X   /'    • 


1'\  •  . 


^^^ 


THE  LIFE 


CHARLES   LORING   BRACE 


CHIEFLY  TOLD  IN  HIS   OWN  LETTERS 


EDITED  BY 

HIS    DAUGHTER 


WITH  PORTS  AITS 


NEW   YORK 

CHAKLES    SCKIBNER'S    SONS 

1894 


COPYRIGHT,   1894,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


^0  Us  Jlotijer 


"  O  strong  soul,  by  what  shore 
Tarriest  thou  now?    For  that  force, 
Surely,  has  not  been  left  vain! 
Somewhere,  surely,  afar. 
In  the  sounding  labour-house  vast 
Of  being,  is  practised  that  strength, 
Zealous,  beneficent,  firm! 

"  Yes,  in  some  far-shining  sphere. 
Conscious  or  not  of  the  past. 
Still  thou  performest  the  word 
Of  the  spirit  in  whom  thou  dost  live — 
Prompt,  unwearied,  as  here! 
Still  thou  upraisest  with  zeal 
The  humble  good  from  the  ground, 
Sternly  repressest  the  bad! 

***** 
If,  in  the  paths  of  the  world, 
Stones  might  have  wounded  thy  feet. 
Toil  or  dejection  have  tried 
Thy  spirit,  of  that  we  saw 
Nothing  —  to  us  thou  wast  still 
Cheerful,  and  helpful,  and  firm! 
Therefore  to  thee  it  was  given 
Many  to  save  with  thyself; 
And,  at  the  end  of  thy  day, 
O  faithful  shepherd,  to  come 
Bringing  thy  sheep  in  thy  hand. 

"  And  through  thee  I  believe 
In  the  noble  and  great  who  are  gone; 

***** 
Servants  of  God !  —  or  sons 
Shall  I  not  call  you?  because 
Not  as  servants  ye  knew 
Your  father's  innermost  mind, 
His,  who  unwillingly  sees 
One  of  his  little  ones  lost  — 
Yours  is  the  praise,  if  mankind 
Hath  not  as  yet  in  its  march 
Fainted,  and  fallen,  and  died!" 

***** 

Matthew  Arnold. 


PREFACE 

In  the  task  upon  which  I  reluctantly  entered  three 
years  ago,  of  editing  my  father's  letters,  it  was  from 
the  beginning  my  aim  to  use  only  such  material  as 
should  add  something  to  the  story  of  his  life,  and  to 
let  that  story  tell  itself  just  as  far  as  possible,  through 
these  letters.  Yet,  in  presenting  him  as  the  founder 
of  a  great  organization  such  as  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  it  has  not  been  found  possible  to  adhere 
rigidly  to  that  original  plan.  Friendly  letters,  with 
their  natural  assumption  of  a  close  knowledge  of  the 
business  and  principles  of  his  life,  must  of  necessity 
fail  to  present  the  details  of  his  life-work,  or  to  do 
justice  to  the  final  results  attained.  Nor  can  they 
be  expected  to  exhibit  duly  the  turning-points  of  his 
success ;  the  forces  he  most  relied  on ;  where  he 
found  sympathy  and  where  apathy ;  the  relative  value 
he  attached  to  educational,  religious,  industrial,  per- 
sonal influences,  —  in  short,  the  personal  side  of  his 
great  philanthropic  work.  These  things  are  revealed 
again  and  again  in  his  book,  "  The  Dangerous  Classes 
of  New  York,"  and  in  the  annual  reports  of  the 
society,  and  it  has  been  to  detach  from  what  is  there 
written  the  principles  in  which  he  believed  and  on 
which  he  worked,  and  to  present  them  at  once  as  a 
consistent  whole,  that  I  have  gone  beyond  the  field 


Vi  PREFACE 

of  mere  editing.  In  doing  this,  it  has  not  been  my 
aim  to  write  the  history  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society, 
but  to  show  what  moved  its  founder  in  this  particular 
direction,  and  how  richly  life  expanded  for  him  as  he 
watched  the  society  become  a  great  engine  in  the 
forces  for  good  to  mankind.  Perhaps  nothing  could 
more  simply  present  the  happiness  which  life  brought 
to  him,  than  a  comparison  of  the  two  portraits  given 
in  this  volume,  one  of  the  grave,  anxious  man  of  thirty, 
the  other  of  the  man  of  sixty. 

I  have  to  thank  the  many  friends,  both  at  home 
and  in  England,  who  have  spared  no  pains  to  procure 
for  me  his  letters  to  them,  but  their  kindness  has 
been  rendered  in  so  personal  a  sense  to  him,  that  I 
hesitate  to  intrude,  even  with  thanks,  between  him 
and  them.  To  Mr.  George  S.  Merriam  and  Mr. 
James  K.  Paulding,  however,  my  own  personal  thanks 
are  owing  for  valuable  advice  in  many  matters,  and 
assistance  without  which  this  task  could  scarcely  have 
been  accomplished. 

EMMA  BRACE. 

Ches-knoll,  Dobbs  Ferry, 
October,  1894. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

Birth  and  Parentage  —  His  Aunts  —  Pursuits  and  Early  Edu- 
cation —  Boyish  Journal  —  College  —  College  Letters  — 
The  Family  Circle  —  His  Sister  Emma's  Letters  —  College 
and  Vacation  Letters  —  Discussions  in  College  —  College 
Friendships 1 

CHAPTER   n 

Decision  to  enter  the  Ministry  —  Teaching  at  Ellington  and 
Winchendon  —  Letters  on  his  Reading  —  Earnest  Resolves 

—  Visit  in  New  Milford  —  Theological  Year  in  New  Haven 

—  Letters  —  Period  of  Speculation  —  Theological  Letters 

—  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Letter  on  Friendships       .        .     29 

CHAPTER  ni 

From  New  Haven  to  New  York  —  William  Colt's  Death  — Life 
in  New  York  —  Staten  Island  —  Speculation  and  Discus- 
sion carried  on  there  and  in  New  York  —  Wendell  Phillips 

—  Letters  —  Studies,  and  Blackwell's  Island  —  Emma's  Ill- 
ness, and  Visit  to  Cambridge  —  Emma's  Death  —  Charles's 
Agony  of  Grief 58 

CHAPTER   IV 

Journey  Abroad  —  Walking  Trip  in  Ireland  —  Letter  on  the 
German  Sunday  —  The  Rhine  and  Edinburgh — Letter  on 
Socialism  —  Decision  to  remain  in  Germany  —  German  Ex- 
periences and  Study  —  Olmsted  Letters  —  Miscellaneous 
Letters,  and  Opinions  on  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  —  Desire 
for  a  Deeper  Life  —  Tired  of  Travelling  .  .  .  .89 
vii 


viii  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   V 

PAGE 

Plan  of  going  to  Hungary — Prague  —  Vienna  Letters  —  Starts 
for  Hungary  down  tlie  Danube  —  Sentiment  for  Hungary  — 
Journey  to  Gross  Wardein  —  Imprisonment  —  Letters  from 
Prison  —  Kelease  —  Olmsted  Letters  —  Feeling  of  Austrian 
Lijustice  —  Trieste  —  Liverpool  —  Return  and  Lectures  — 
Book  on  Hungary  —  Book  on  Germany  —  Episode  with 
"C." 122 


CHAPTER  VI 

Decision  to  enter  Philanthropic  Work  —  Efforts  among  Adults 
—  Boys'  Meetings  —  Insufficiency  of  these  Efforts  —  Or- 
ganization of  Children's  Aid  Society  —  First  Circular  — 
Immediate  Response  of  Children  —  Workshops  —  Letters 
in  Children's  Aid  Society  —  Failure  of  First  Effort  — 
Workshops  —  Industrial  Schools  —  Need  of  Outside  Help 
in  starting  Schools  —  Objection  to  RafHes,  etc.  — Organiza- 
tion of  Fourth  Ward  Schools  —  Homeless  Boys  —  Lodging- 
House  —  What  to  do  with  the  Homeless  —  Emigration 
versus  Asylums  —  Difficulties  —  Immediate  Success  of  Ef- 
fort —  Miscellaneous  Letters 153 


CHAPTER  Vn 

Opening  of  First  Lodging-House  for  Newsboys  —  Sunday 
Evening  Meetings  —  One  Year's  Experience  with  Lodging- 
House  —  Personal  Relations  with  the  Poor  —  Notes  of  Lect- 
ures on  Children's  Aid  Society  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  — 
Journey  to  Ireland,  and  Marriage  —  Aim  of  Society  and 
Principles  —  Success  of  Emigration  —  Success  of  Schools  — 
Volunteers  — Letters  to  his  Wife  —  Organization  of  Italian 
School  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Trip  to  England  and  Nor- 
way —  Reflections  on  Loneliness  of  the  Poor  —  Natural 
Results  of  Neglect  of  Poor  Children  —  Kindness  of  Adopted 
Mothers  -  in  the  West  —  Opposition  to  Emigration  —  Jour- 
ney to  the  West  —  Letters  to  his  AVife         .         .         .         .186 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  VIII 

PAOE 

Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Appeal  for  a  Night  School  for  Girls  — 
Organization  of  the  School  —  Similar  Associations  in  Other 
Cities  —  Desire  for  Workers  among  Young  Men  —  Letters 
and  Papers  written  during  the  Civil  War  —  Letters  from 
Greeley  and  Seward  —  Mr.  Brace  goes  South  on  the  Chris- 
tian Commission  —  New  President  of  Children's  Aid  Society 

—  Organization  of  First  Girls'  Lodging-House     .        .         .  222 

CHAPTER   IX 

Ethnological  Book — Progress  of  Children's  Aid  Society  in 
Spite  of  the  War  —  Death  of  Mrs.  Schuyler  —  Letter  to  a 
Trustee  of  Children's  Aid  Society  explaining  Mr.  Brace's 
Eight  to  Private  Views  as  a  Private  Individual  —  Plans  for 
English  Journey  —  Lincoln's  Death  —  Experience  in  Eng- 
land —  English  Lack  of  Sympathy  in  the  War  —  In  the 
Tyrol  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Illness  —  California  Trip 

—  Death  of  Miss  Neill  —  Death  of  Mr.  Loring  —  Progress 
of  Society's  Work  —  Newsboys'  Lodging-House  —  Letter 

to  Beecher  —  Darwinism  —  Factory  Children      .        .         .  256 

CHAPTER   X 

"The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York"  —  Visit  to  England 
as  Delegate  to  Congress  on  Reform  —  Darwin  —  Visit  to 
Hungary  —  Twentieth  Annual  Report  —  Death  of  Mr. 
Brace's  Father  —  Death  of  John  Stuart  Mill — "Soup- 
kitchen"  Episode  —  Children's  Summer  Home  of  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society 308 

CHAPTER  XI 

Mr.  Brace's  New  House  —  Life  in  the  Woods  —  Charges  against 
Children's  Aid  Society  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  To  a 
Young  Man  on  Faith  —  On  the  Strikes  —  Study  and  Work 

—  Free  Trade  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Correspondence 
about  his  Coming  Book  —  Death  of  his  Brother  —  Trip 
Abroad  —  Society  Details  —  Death  of  Mr.  Macy  .         .  342 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XII 

PAGE 

"Gesta  Christi"  —  Letters  about  "  Gesta  Christi " — Contro- 
versy with  Miss  Lazarus  —  Letters  on  New  Studies  — 
Visit  of  Mr.  Mozoomdar — Mr.  Brace's  Devotional  Read- 
ings at  Home  —  Sanitarium  — Letter  from  Mr.  Mozoomdar 

—  Political  and  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Preparations  for 
New  Book 384 

CHAPTER  Xm 

English  Sojourn  —  Summary  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  — 
Letters — Thirty-fifth  Annual  Report  —  Death  of  Priends 
of  the  Society  —  Letters  on  his  Coming  Book  —  Death  of 
Dr.  Gray  —  Letter  on  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  —  Let- 
ters —  Effort  to  Prevent  the  Admission  of  Boys  to  Men's 
Lodging- Houses  —  Marienbad  —  Switzerland      .        .        .  426 

CHAPTER   XIV 

Bryce's  Book  —  Death  of  Mr.  Skinner  —  Letter  from  Virginia 

—  Adirondack  Trip  —  Last  Report  —  Letters  —  "  The  Un- 
known God "  —  Letters  on  "The  Unknown  God "  —  Offers 
of  his  Son  to  come  to  New  York  as  his  Father's  Assistant 

—  Last  Journey  —  The  Dolomites  —  St.  Moritz  —  His  In- 
creasing Weakness  —  Death 454 


APPENDICES 489 


THE   LIFE 

OF 

CHARLES   LORING   BRACE 


THE    LIFE    OF 

CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

CHAPTER  I 

Birth  and  Parentage  —  His  Aunts  —  Pursuits  and  Early  Education 
—  Boyish  Journal  —  College  —  College  Letters  —  The  Family 
Circle  —  His  Sister  Emma's  Letters  —  College  and  Vacation 
Letters  —  Discussions  in  College  —  College  Friendships 

Chaeles  Loring  Brace  was  born  in  Litchfield, 
Connecticut,  June  19,  1826.  New  England  may 
claim  the  whole  stock  of  his  hereditary  qualities  as 
her  gift,  for  the  family  had  lived  in  Hartford 
for  almost  two  hundred  years,  and  his  mother's 
blood  connected  him  with  the  widespread  relation- 
ships of  the  Porter  and  Beecher  families.  She 
was  Miss  Lucy  Porter  of  Maine,  a  descenda-  ' 
of  the  Hon.  Rufus  King.  Charles  was  named  h>. 
the  Hon.  Charles  Loring,  a  lawyer  of  note  in 
Boston,  who  married  the  only  sister  of  Charles's 
father. 

Mr.  Brace  was  of  Puritan  ancestry,  a  descendant 
of  Stephen  Brace  (sometimes  written  Bracy),  a  man 


2  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

of  good  standing  and  estate,^  who  came  from  England 
in  1660  and  settled  in  Hartford,  where  the  family 
has  resided  for  seven  generations.  The  Braces  were 
among  the  leaders  in  the  religious  and  political 
life  of  Connecticut,  and  members  of  the  family  have 
served  the  State  on  the  bench,  in  the  pulpit,  and  in 
the  legislature.  Capt.  Abel  Brace,  the  great-grand- 
father of  Charles  L.,  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  and  an  oft-repeated  representative  to  the 
General  Assembly. 

Although  he  was  but  seven  years  of  age  when  his 
father  moved  from  Litchfield  to  become  principal  of 
the  Female  Seminary  in  Hartford,  the  ties  were  so 
strong  that  bound  John  Brace  and  his  children 
to  Litchfield,  that  no  account  of  the  forces  that 
moulded  Charles  is  complete  which  omits  to  men- 
tion the  Pierce  family  and  homestead  there. 

John  Brace's  aunts,  the  Misses  Pierce,  had  towards 
the  end  of  the  last  century  established  a  school 
which  marked  an  epoch  in  the  education  of  girls 
of  that  period,  being  one  of  the  first  schools 
where  anything  more  than  an  elementary  education 
could  be  acquired.  These  women,  trained  in  part 
in  New  York  through  the  assistance  of  an  older 
brother,  a  man  of  position  there,  who  had  been  pay- 
master under  Washington  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  impress  one  privileged  to  read  their  intimate 

1  "Early  Puritan  Settlers."     R.  R.  Hinman.     Hartford,  1852. 


HIS  PARENTS  3 

family  letters  of  those  early  days,  as  characters  of 
unusual  force  and  intelligence.  They  superintended 
the  education  of  John  Brace,  and  sent  him  to  Wil- 
liams College,  where  he  studied  with  a  half-formed 
intention  of  entering  the  ministry.  But  it  was  early 
evident  that  he  was  a  Lorn  teacher,  and  he  began  the 
career  which  made  his  name  honored  in  many  Con- 
necticut homes,  as  head  teacher  in  his  aunts'  school 
in  Litchfield.  Mrs.  Stowe,  Mrs.  Cyi'us  W.  Field, 
and  the  first  Mrs.  Marshall  O.  Roberts  were  a  few 
of  the  women  who  felt  the  inspiration  of  his  teaching, 
and  Mrs.  Stowe  speaks  of  him  in  the  life  of  her 
father,  as  "one  of  the  most  stimulating  and  in- 
spiring instructors  I  ever  knew.  The  interest  of 
the  historical  recitations  with  a  professor  so  widely 
informed  and  so  fascinating  as  Mr.  Brace  extended 
farther  than  the  class.  Much  of  the  training  and 
inspiration  of  my  early  days  consisted  not  in  the 
thing  which  I  was  supposed  to  be  studying,  but  in 
hearing,  while  seated  at  my  desk,  the  conversation 
of  Mr.  Brace  with  the  older  classes."  ^ 

He  married  in  1820,  and  in  1833  moved  to  Hart- 
ford. We  know  too  little  of  Charles's  mother,  and 
it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  in  the  mass 
of  correspondence  no  allusion  anywhere  to  his  rela- 
tions with  her.     We  cannot  find  that  he  was  ever 

1  Mrs.  Stowe,  in  "Old  Town  Folks,"  lias  pictured  some  of  his 
methods  and  himself  in  the  character  of  Rossiter. 


4  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1834 

separated  from  her  long  enough  for  either  of  them 
to  write.  But  in  the  family  letters  of  this  date  we 
have  glimpses  of  a  self-devoted,  anxious  mother, 
with  hardly  strength  enough  for  the  many  cares  of 
her  little  home.  Her  cheerful  courage  was  an  exam- 
ple which  helped  her  daughters  when  their  turn  came 
to  take  up  the  heavy  responsibilities  after  her  too 
early  death. 

There  is  but  one  story  about  Charles  in  his 
childhood.  His  curiosity  on  subjects  of  history  was 
insatiable,  until  his  questions  and  his  father's  elab- 
orate replies  became  a  torment  to  the  young  ladies 
of  the  school.  When,  finally,  the  child  selected  the 
dinner  hour  to  propound  his  queries,  and  their 
teacher  laid  down  his  carving  knife  and  fork,  and 
the  roast  grew  cold,  the  pupils,  after  suffering  thus, 
silent  and  hungry  on  several  occasions,  rebelled. 
Charles  w^as  threatened.  If  he  did  not  stay  away 
with  his  questions,  he  should  be  kissed.  Dreading 
this  terror,  after  the  manner  of  small  boys,  he  de- 
sisted. The  story  tells  us  a  good  deal  of  the  nature 
of  Charles's  training. 

His  occupations  and  pursuits,  although  not  unlike 
those  of  other  boys,  were  very  much  under  his 
father's  eye.  This  was  onl}'-  according  to  the  good 
and  regular  habit  of  authority  familiar  to  that  day, 
but  owing  to  his  father's  enjoyment  of  teaching  and 
the  boy's  eager  intelligence,  the  relation  was  espe- 


JEt.  14]        PASSION  FOR  TROUT-FISHING  5 

cially  close.  His  mother,  burdened  with  the  charge 
of  a  younger,  delicate  boy,  left  Charles  entirely  in 
his  father's  care.  She  died  in  1840,  when  Charles 
was  fourteen. 

For  seven  years,  desj)ite  all  the  absorbing  duties 
of  a  teacher's  life,  his  father  read  to  him  for  two 
hours  a  day  on  historical  subjects,  var3dng  them 
with  Scott  and  Shakespeare.  The  Greek  and  Roman 
histories  with  which  the  course  began  were  acted 
out  in  the  boy's  imagination  by  the  aid  of  acorns, 
with  which  he  represented  contending  armies. 

Among  his  favorite  pursuits  with  his  father,  trout- 
fishing  became  an  ingrained  habit,  and  through  all 
his  life  Charles  was  one  of  the  most  ardent  followers 
of  that  apostolic  occupation.  For  the  rest,  in  addi- 
tion to  boys'  games  and  plays,  he  loved  rambles  in 
the  country.  His  home  in  Hartford  was  in  a  suburb, 
and  within  easy  reach  of  streams  and  country  walks, 
and  his  letters  written  from  college  glow  with  mem- 
ories, dwelt  upon  all  through  the  winter,  of  his 
spring  rambles  and  fishing  expeditions  at  home. 

We  must  speak  also  of  his  formal  education  in 
schooling  and  reading.  Whatever  limitations  his 
training  had,  —  and  we  know  that  from  the  point  of 
view  of  modern  schooling  it  was  completely  defec- 
tive in  a  scientific  direction, —  it  must  have  been,  ac- 
cording to  the  light  of  Litchfield  and  Hartford  in 
1830   at   least,    an    exceedingly  copious    one.       In 


6  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1841 

consequence  of  his  father's  watchful  attention  to  his 
development,  he  was  ready  for  college  at  fourteen, 
and  lingered  outside  till  sixteen,  studying  French, 
German,  and,  it  af)pears,  Spanish,  and  reading  his- 
tory. He  was  all  his  life  a  good  linguist,  and  was 
able,  in  his  travels  in  Hungary,  even  to  talk  a  little 
Latin  at  need,  from  his  college  preparation. 

In  a  journal  kept  during  the  year  before  he  en- 
tered college  we  find,  among  others,  the  following 
entries :  — 

"Nov.  9,  1841.  The  sun  rose  clear,  with  the 
wind  north-west;  a  few  clouds  around,  but  on  the 
whole  a  beautiful  morning.  I've  just  got  my  Span- 
ish lesson.  Tooth  don't  ache  at  all.  Voila  une 
seyitence  Latine!  'Per  tibicinem,  qui  coram  Mose 
modulatus  est '  —  I  think  that  could  hardly  have 
been  from  Horace.  'Das  ist  schones  Wetter.'  'C'est 
un  beau  jour. '  'Hace  bello  tiempo. '  Hier  sie  haben 
drei  sprachen,  Deutsche,  Franzosische  und  Span- 
ische.  —  N'est-ce  pas  grand?  I  kicked  football  from 
five  till  dark.  Emma  [liis  sister]  went  to  the  tem- 
perance lecture  this  evening  (like  a  goose!};  also 
she  made  some  calls." 

"Nov.  30,  1841.  The  sun  rose  clear  and  bright. 
Wind  N.  W.  and  gave  us  a  beautiful  day.  I  studied 
part  of  the  morning,  and  went  to  the  Institute  lec- 
ture in  the  evening,  delivered  by  Elihu  Burritt,  or 
the  learned  blacksmith.  He  isn't  thirty  yet,  and 
knows  fifty-three  languages.  His  lecture  was  on 
'Genius.'     That  there  was  no  such  thing  as  genius 


iEx.  15]  YOUTHFUL  DIARY  7 

or  native  talent.  He  made  use  of  one  quotation 
that  I  must  remember.  'It  is  nature  that  makes  the 
rolling  billows  sleep  and  the  sleeping  billows  roll.'  " 

"  Feb.  16,  1842.  I  will  give  my  occupations  now. 
First  I  get  two  pages  of  Xenophon  and  then  one 
page  of  Cicero,  and  then  my  German  and  write  in 
my  journal.  In  the  afternoon  I  get  one  hundred 
lines  in  the  '^neid, '  and  fifty  lines  in  the  'Georgics  ' 
(these  are  all  reviews),  and  then  sometimes  study 
German.  The  rest  of  the  time  I  devote  to  read- 
ing French  and  English  works,  or  ivriting  poetry!!! 
Evenings  I  give  to  reading  or  playing  chess  or 
backgammon." 

"Feb.  20.  Bushnell  preached  in  the  morning  on 
the  text  '  Then  went  in  also  that  other  disciple. '  A 
strange  text!  His  subject  was  the  'secret  and  in- 
voluntary influences  '  of  every  one.  .  .  .  He  then 
illustrated  it  from  the  works  of  God.  He  said  the 
earthquake's  shock  seemed  a  fearful  thing  in  Nature. 
But  the  morning's  light,  whose  dawn  would  not 
awake  an  infant,  had  more  influence  than  a  thousand 
earthquakes.  He  then  described  the  effect  if  that 
light  were  blotted  out.  How  the  earth,  with  its 
sister  planets,  would  soon  be  icy  balls  floating  in 
primeval  darkness.  How  the  earthquakes  would  be 
frozen  in  their  fiery  caverns.  (For  a  fuller  descrip- 
tion see  Byron's  poem  on 'Darkness.')  He  ended 
off  with  a  solemn  appeal  to  his  hearers  not  to  harden 
their  hearts  to  his  preaching." 

This  extract  from  the  journal  has  been  given  in 
full,  because   the   sermon   referred   to   exercised  so 


8  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1842 

profound  an  influence  on  Mr.  Brace.  In  a  letter  to 
a  young  friend,  in  1886,  after  speaking  of  Buslinell 
and  his  influence  on  the  young  men  of  Hartford,  he 
says,  "That  sermon  on  'Unconscious  Influence' 
affected  my  whole  life." 

The  studious  days  were  varied  b}'^  whole  days  in 
the  open  air,  trout-fishing,  or  bathing,  or  "loafing," 
as  he  says. 

On  August  16,  1842,  he  says :  — 

"This  is  quite  an  important  day  of  my  life,  the 
day  of  my  examination  for  college.  .  .  .  My  ex- 
amination lasted  only  about  three-quarters  of  an 
hour.  It  was  perfectly  simple.  .  .  .  Finally  they 
gave  me  my  commission,  and  I  am  a  Freshman  of 
Yale  College.  Hurray!  I  lazed  around,  in  a  perfect 
agony  for  something  to  do  all  the  afternoon.  New 
Haven  is  a  most  beautiful  place." 

In  October,  1842,  we  find  him  in  college,  well 
equipped,  mentally  and  physically,  to  take  his  place 
among  those  to  whom  the  college  days  remain  to  the 
la.it  so  happy  a  memory.  "Intense  earnestness  in 
whatever  he  undertook  was  the  characteristic  and, 
one  might  say,  the  keynote  of  his  life,"  says  one  of 
liis  friends,  and  we  may  add,  whether  it  were  boxing 
or  football,  classical  studies  or  religious  argument, 
the  same  enthusiasm  showed  in  all  he  did.  In 
December  he   writes    to   his    father    the    following 


.f:T.  16]  EARLY  COLLEGE  DAYS  9 

letter,   which   pictures   to   us   his   occupations    and 
thoughts  in  his  early  college  days :  — 

New  Haven,  December  11,  1842. 
My  dear  Father:  If  there  is  one  thing  I  miss 
especially  here  which  I  had  at  home,  it  is  Mr.  Bush- 
nell's  sermons.  This  thought  occurred  to  me  from 
looking  over  some  old  notices  of  Bushnell's  sermons 
in  my  journal  to-day.  You  must  tell  him  how  the 
Hartford  boys  (I  am  not  the  only  one)  miss  him,  and 
how  much  the  students  here  would  love  to  hear  him ; 
for  his  fame  is  pretty  generally  extended  among 
them.  ...  I  think  John's  ^  father  must  be  very 
rich,  for  John  has  a  great  deal  of  money.  He  treats 
fellows  considerably  to  pies  and  that  kind  of  thing, 
and  is  very  generous  with  it.  I  have  refused,  except 
once  or  twice,  to  be  treated,  because  I  could  not 
afford  it  in  return  (not  that  I  ever  said  so),  but  he 
buys  great  quantities  of  confectionery,  etc.,  and 
brings  it  into  the  room,  where  I  must  eat  it.  That 
is  all  well  enough,  for  I  furnish  eatables,  pies,  etc., 
from  home ;  but  he  has  bought  fencing  foils,  dumb- 
bells, etc.,  and  is  going  to  buy  boxing  gloves,  and 
his  father  will  probably  get  a  good  many  of  those 
kinds  of  things,  which  I  shall  enjoy  as  much  as  he. 
Now  I  want  to  know  whether  it  will  seem  at  all 
dependent  in  me  to  use  these  things.  If  the  slight- 
est expression  that  way  should  ever  drop  from  him, 
I  should  separate  from  him  immediately,  but  as  it  is, 
I  don't  hardly  think  he  considers  it  so  at  all.     This 

1  John  H.  Olmsted,  one  of  the  Hartford  boys,  a  friend  of  Charles's 
before  they  entered  college. 


10  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1842 

last  is  all  private.  ...  I  don't  know  but  what  you 
will  find  me  somewhat  rusty.  I  haven't  been  into 
society  much  this  winter,  and  need  some  virtuous 
females  to  reform  me.  Father,  I  do  envy  you  your 
youthful  days  in  company  as  much  as  anything.  I 
am  afraid  your  worthy  son  is  destined  for  something 
else  in  that  line.     However,  never  say  die ! 

Last  Sunday  I  joined  the  church, ^  and  I  humbly 
hope  that  with  God's  aid,  I  shall  keep  up  to  my  pro- 
fessions. I  have  to  be  much  more  careful  of  myself 
than  I  would  be  at  home,  or  than  persons  generally 
would,  for  John  notices  very  particularly,  and  is 
influenced  in  his  own  conduct  by  what  he  sees  in 
mine.  Father,  you  talk  a  great  deal  about  being 
old  and  that  kind  of  thing,  but  you  are  not,  and  I 
expect  many  a  pleasant  fishing  expedition  yet  with 
you.  I  hope  you  will  not  be  so  much  of  a  gar- 
dener next  summer  that  you'll  forget  fishing.  It's 
too  great  a  descent  for  a  gentleman  to  take  to  dig- 
ging after  trout-fishing,  and  he  at  least  ought  to 
make  the  descent  gradual,  by  dividing  his  time  be- 
tween them.  .  .  .  Bushnell  gave  the  good  people 
of  New  Haven  quite  a  curious  and  certainly  a  splen- 
did lecture.  It  has  set  the  big-wigs  in  tremendous 
excitement.  .  .  .  Woolsey  saj^s  the  theory  is  wrong. 
The  young  men  like  it  to  distraction,  —  they  praise 
his  originality,  his  liberality,  and  his  independence. 

His  father  replies:  "You  speak  of  my  youthful 
days  in  company.  Those  days  were  not,  after  all, 
the  most  profitable  ones  of  my  life.     I  was  led  away 

1  The  Con2:re2;ational. 


iET.  16]  HIS  SISTER  EMMA  11 

by  the  ease  with  which  I  could  'set  the  table  in  a 
roar  '  to  become  light  and  trifling  in  character.  From 
early  childhood  I  was  surrounded  by  a  changing 
variety  of  females  that  did  not  produce  much  per- 
manency of  feeling  in  my  character.  Had  I  possessed 
less  fondness  for  female  society,  and  less  love  of 
humor,  my  situation  and  destiny  in  life  would  have 
probably  been  far  different.  ...  I  am  very  thank- 
ful that  you  have  united  with  the  Church,  and  I 
pray  God  to  give  you  strength  to  adorn  the  profes- 
sion. You  have  a  high,  though  not  a  quick  temper 
to  control,  much  worldliness  to  contend  with,  and 
the  downward  example  of  the  young  men  around 
you.  ...  I  think  I  have  great  cause  to  be  grate- 
ful for  the  character,  conduct,  and  habits  of  my 
chikh'en." 


The  little  family  circle  that  Charles  left  on  going 
to  college  consisted  of  his  father,  an  older  sister 
Mary,  a  devoted  daughter  to  her  lonely  father  and 
like  a  mother  in  the  motherless  home,  a  younger 
brother  James,  and  a  sister  Emma,  just  two  years 
his  junior,  with  whom  he  had  during  her  short 
life  an  intimacy  of  relation  rare  even  in  the  happiest 
homes.  She  was  so  strong,  so  brave,  so  unmoved 
by  anything  disturbing,  so  sunny  and  merry,  that  it 
is  easy  to  understand  his  close  dependence  upon  her. 
During  his  college  life,  her  sweet  and  merry  letters 
came  to  him  almost  every  week,  in  the  "  trunk " 
which,  in  economical  New  England  fashion,  carried 


12  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1842 

his  linen  and  pies  to  him  with  absolute  regularity. 
One  occasionally  wonders  whether  the  pies,  con- 
sumed by  the  small  circle  of  friends  regardless  of  the 
hour,  on  the  arrival  of  the  trunk,  did  not  cost  more, 
at  least  in  effects,  than  a  modest  weekly  washing  of 
linen! 

Out  of  the  mass  of  letters  from  Emma,  we  insert 
the  following :  — 

[Undated.    Presumably  1842.] 

You  seemed  to  doubt,  dear  Charley,  if  I  could 
sympathize  with  you  in  your  feelings  of  ambition, 
but  I  can.  I  have  felt  it  some,  but  I  know  it  was 
not  to  such  an  extent  as  yours  is.  If  I  was  placed 
in  such  a  situation  as  you  are,  I  should  get  so  excited 
with  ambition,  for  I  have  it  in  me.  .  .  .  My  heart 
is  witli  you.  I  cannot  but  urge  you  to  place  your 
standard  high,  and  you'll  get  somewhere  near  it.  I 
hope  you  will  be  able  to  get  what  you  desire.  Though 
you  have  noble  antagonists,  I  should  think  you  may 
attain,  if  not  the  first  (which  I  hardly  dare  to  hope), 
at  least  one  of  the  first.  .  »  .  I  suppose  as  a  pru- 
dent sister  I  ought  to  urge  you  not  "to  be  rash,"  and 
to  preach  not  to  be  imprudent  in  regard  to  your 
health,  and  above  all,  not  to  let  it  get  the  advantage 
over  your  duties  to  God.  .  .  .  But  I  do  not  see 
why  you  cannot  be  ambitious  and  at  the  same  time 
have  this  feeling  in  subservience  to  God's  will ;  why 
cannot  you  perform  your  duties  to  God  at  the  same 
time,  and  ask  his  blessing  upon  your  efforts.  .  .  . 
I  do  not  know  as  I  shall  be  able  to  write  you  next 


^T.  16]  LETTERS  FROM  HIS  SISTER  13 

time,  as  it  will  be  just  before  examination  and  I 
shall  be  very  busy.  In  five  weeks  is  vacation.  I 
anticipate  it  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure,  for  two 
weeks  of  it  come  at  the  same  time  yours  do,  and  it 
will  be  grand.  I  have  formed  a  nice  plan.  You 
know  we  shall  want  to  go  fishing,  and  so  I  move  we 
have  a  wagon  with  two  seats,  and  you,  Mr.  Colt, 
Jim,  and /go.  Mr.  C.  says  he  will.  Oh!  I  think 
it  will  be  capital.  If  you  young  gentlemen  (ahem !) 
are  afraid  I  shall  talk  too  much,  and  disturb  your 
deep  meditations  or  logical  reasoning,  I  will  promise 
to  be  the  best  little  girl  that  ever  was,  and  hold  up 
my  hand  every  time  I  want  to  speak.  But  a  truce 
to  trifling;  I  say  it  must  be  carried  into  effect.  The 
aforesaid  gentleman  is  initiating  me  into  the  myste- 
ries of  the  seventh  book  in  "Virgil,"  so  I  quite  enjoy 
his  visits. 

From  the  Same. 

Hartford  [1846]. 

My  dear  Charley :  .  .  .  And  last,  but  not  least 
in  my  opinion,  is  your  humble  servant  with  a  sage, 
dignified  countenance,  hair  put  up  on  her  head. 
Yes,  Charley,  your  "youngest  sister"  has  done  all 
that  externals  can  do  to  make  her  a  young  lady, 
with  long  dresses,  and  those  lovely,  fascinating,  and 
exquisite  sausages  which  hung  down  her  neck,  have 
at  last  been  turned  up,  and  the  "  lovely  Miss  Emma  " 
has  grown  so  excessively  dignified  in  consequence 
of  such  change  that  her  friends  would  hardly  recog- 
nize her.  ...  I  graduate  three  weeks  from  to-day, 
and  no  longer  can  I  smile  except,  tell  Henry,  on  some 
interesting   Sophomore,    who   chances   to   cross    my 


14  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1846 

path.  .  .  .  The  other  evening  Mr.  Bushnell  ad- 
vised us  to  cultivate  a  devotional  spirit  as  being 
the  most  improving  one.  He  told  us  to  rise  early, 
and  before  the  business  of  the  day  commenced  and 
before  the  cares  of  this  life  distracted  our  thoughts, 
to  kneel  in  humble  devotion  to  God  and  pray  fer- 
vently to  him.  I  have  tried  it  since  then,  and  have 
risen  quite  early.  I  find  that  my  thoughts  do  get 
distracted,  even  before  I  get  dressed,  and  I  do  not 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  time  enough,  but  I  do 
hope  it  will  do  me  good  and  draw  me  nearer  to  God 
daily. 

She  studied  hard  at  the  Seminary  with  the  inten- 
tion of  becoming  a  teacher,  and  in  1846,  even  before 
Charles  has  begun  life  for  himself,  we  find  her  cour- 
ageously starting  alone  for  Kentucky,  full  of  eager- 
ness to  relieve  her  father  of  her  support  and  to  do 
her  little  part  of  usefulness  in  the  world.  The  jour- 
ney was  by  stage-coach,  and  might  have  daunted  a 
less  brave  spirit.  Her  little  school  at  Garrettsburg 
was  very  successful,  and  she  bore  the  separation  from 
those  at  home  with  cheerful  courage,  as  the  letters 
written  soon  after  her  arrival,  to  her  father,  and  later 
to  Charles,  clearly  show. 

Emma  Brace  to  J.  P.  Brace. 

Garrettsburg,  Aug.  8,  1846. 

Dear  Father :  Your  blue  little  picture  of  our  never 
all  being  at  home  again,  I  just  turned  the  back  side 


iET.  20]       EMMA'S   HAPPY   TEMPERAMENT  15 

foremost.  Why  gracious,  ^^rr,  I  expect  many  a  merry 
time  3'et  with  our  interesting  family,  and  if  Mary 
does  get  married,  why,  I'm  looking  forward  to  keep- 
ing house  for  you;  and  tliough  I  could  not  make  you 
as  comfortable  and  happy,  yet  I  should  enjoy  it.  If 
I  cannot  sing,  I  can  be  jolly;  if  I  cannot  cook,  I  can 
make  believe  and  then  laugh;  and  if  I  cannot  darn, 
I  can  sew  up  and  botch,  and,  anyway,  if  the  flesh 
don't  show,  what's  the  difference?  So  here  are  my 
merits,  and  such  as  they  are  3'ou're  welcome  to  them. 

From  Emma  to  Charles.^ 

Garrettsbdrg,  Dec.  29,  1846. 

.  .  .  How  little  you  understand  me,  Charley. 
If  you  only  knew  the  perfect  rush  of  happiness  that 
comes  across  me  when  I  think  of  home,  and  that  this 
time  next  year  I  may  be  there,  you'd  not  dream  of 
accusing  me  of  want  of  feeling.  I'm  not  homesick, 
and  if  I  could  get  home  to-morrow,  I  wouldn't  do  it; 
but  when  my  time  is  out  (and  how  long  that  shall  be 
I  leave  for  father  to  determine),  the  way  I  shall  allow 
my  feelings  full  play!  'Tisn't  worth  while  to  be 
discontented  while  I  stay,  is  it?  That  is  the  im- 
pression that  I  meant  to  convey  in  my  former  letters, 
for  really  I  have  nothing  to  be  displeased  with  here, 
as  I'm  as  much  at  home  as  in  old  "Yankee  land." 
You  know,  anywhere  you  can  find  subject  enough  to 
cavil  at,  if  you  have  the  disposition,  but  not  more 
here  than  anywhere.     Now  do  you  fully  understand 

1  Unfortunately,  scarcely  any  letters  from  Charles  to  his  sister 
Emma  have  been  found. 


16  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 


[1843 


my  feelings  ?  There  are  more  inducements  to  stay 
here,  which  can't  operate  at  home.  For  instance,  I 
should  have  more  inducements  to  do  good,  as  the 
children  placed  under  my  care  here  will  perhaps 
never  have  another  opportunity  to  learn  their  duty, 
and  to  hear  of  God  and  his  mercies;  and  isn't  that 
something  in  the  scale  ?  The  motive  father  attrib- 
utes to  me  —  that  of  making  money  —  is  unworthy 
of  a  thought  almost.  My  only  desire  is  not  to  be  a 
burden  to  father  any  longer,  and  that  I  should  not 
be  with  the  salary  he  offers  me,  and  there  I  should 
have  all  the  pleasures  and  advantages  of  being  at 
home,  and  perhaps  might  be  some  assistance  to 
Mary.  So  if  father  says  so,  I  shall  be  home  next 
summer,  and  the  way  we'll  spree  it! 

To  return  to  Charles's  correspondence   with  his 
father,  he  writes  from  college  in  January,  1843: 

"It  is  Sundaj^  and  from  some  thoughts  I  have 
had,  I  thought  I  would  ask  your  advice.  All  to- 
day, at  the  most  solemn  times,  I  have  thoughts  come 
over  me  which  completely  carry  me  away.  These 
thoughts  are  principally  on  ambition,  my  studies, 
and  things  connected  with  them,  and  I  want  to  know 
whether  a  person  can  be  ambitious  and  still  attend 
to  his  Christian  duties.  It  will  not  do,  evidently, 
to  neglect  my  studies  and  everything  of  that  kind, 
and  yet  it  ought  not  to  be,  as  it  is  now,  that  my 
last  thought  going  to  sleep  is  on  my  lesson,  and  my 
first  in  the  morning  on  the  worldly  duties  of  the 
day.     I  think  it  is  rather  a  trait  of  my  character  that 


^T.  17]  RELIGTOX  AT  YALE  17 

whenever  a  certain  feeling  comes  over  it,  either  like 
that  or  different  from  it,  it  occupies  all  my  thoughts, 
excluding  everything  else.  Now  to-day  I  would  try 
to  fix  my  attention  on  the  sermon,  but  in  a  moment 
I  would  be  thinking  of  the  dire  struggle  going  on 
between  this  and  that  fellow,  and  so  it  was  all  the 
time.  I  cannot  prevent  those  thoughts  from  enter- 
ing my  mind,  but  I  can  find  out  and  perhaps  prevent 
the  causes  of  them.  I  wonder  whether  I  couldn't 
study  from  motives  of  doing  good;  for  the  reputation 
of  a  good  scholar  here  certainly  does  give  a  man  more 
influence  than  anything  else.  I  should  like  to  know 
whether  you,  when  a  young  man,  had  such  feelings 
come  over  you,  and  exclude  everything  else.  But 
enough  of  myself  for  the  present. 

"I  presume  you  would  like  to  know  the  state  of 
religion  here.  A  short  time  ago  I  thought  there 
was  a  general  revival  commencing,  but  it  seems  now 
to  be  at  a  standstill.  Professor  Goodrich  told  us 
to-night  that  we  were  the  pioneers  of  religion  in  the 
college,  and  that  our  motto  should  be  'Aspera  non 
terrent.'  We  have  a  general  church  meeting  Mon- 
day night  to  consider  and  pray  over  the  state  of 
things  in  college. 

"Whatever  Taylor's  theology  may  be,  he  is  cer- 
tainly a  most  interesting,  yes,  something  more  than 
that,  preacher.  By  the  way,  if  you  ever  have  time 
to  sketch  a  few  of  your  most  powerful  arguments 
against  Taylor's  system,  I  would  like  to  see  them. 
Don't  be  alarmed!  I  am  not  going  to  turn  Taylor- 
ite;  in  fact,  I  don't  know  the  difference  yet  between 
the  beliefs,  except  that  some  Taylorite  at  our  table 
said  that  the  opposite  (as  I  understood  it)  party  be- 


18  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1843 

lieved  in  the  damnation  of  infants.  Wliereat,  though 
I  didn't  care  much,  I  thought  it  rather  improbable, 
to  say  the  least,  that  they  went  to  hell.  Please  not 
tell  Mr.  Eliphalet  Terry,  Esq.,  etc.,  etc.,  that,  as  he 
would  regard  it  as  the  first  symptoms  of  Taylorite 
principles  working  in  me,  and  then  might  not  send 
his  son  here.  Though  it  would  be  a  perfect  bless- 
ing if  that  son  of  his  ever  meddled  with  theology  at 
all.  You  never  yet  have  told  me  whether  you 
thought  it  extravagant  or  not,  going  to  that  other 
club.  I  think  you  should  tell  me  the  truth  exactly. 
If  you  can  find  time,  please  tell  me  a  little  about 
Shelley,  if  you  can, —  his  reputation,  writings,  etc. 
.  .  .  You  have  been  pleased  to  compliment  me, 
several  times,  on  my  'frugality  and  economy.'  You 
needn't  suppose  that  they  are  virtues  which  I 
have,  for  I  have  as  much  inclination  for  spending 
as  any  one,  but  I  think  I  would  be  rascally  indeed 
if  I  was  spending  money  here  while  you  were  work- 
ing like  a  dog  at  home,  and  all  of  you  perhaps 
stinting  yourselves  for  me.  .  .  .  Many  thanks  for 
the  pie." 

The  vacations  were  as  busy  and  as  happy  to  Charles 
as  the  college  days,  with  visits  to  the  old  Litchfield 
home  and  long  days  of  fishing,  either  with  one  of 
his  college  friends  or  alone. 

These  experiences,  which  filled  each  summer  brim- 
ful of  enjoyment,  are  described  in  the  following  let- 
ters, which  are  inserted  together,  although  written 
during  different  vacations :  — 


^T.  17]  VISIT  TO  LITCHFIELD  19 

To  his  Father. 

Sharon,  September,  1843. 
Bear  Father:  .  .  .  After  a  very  hot  walk  of 
about  four  hours,  I  arrived  in  Litchfield.  ...  I 
Avas  welcomed  by  all  most  cordially,  and  we  conversed 
till  quite  late.  They  got  talking  about  your  "liob- 
bies,"and  Aunt  Sarah  said  that  gardening  was  your 
present  one,  and  you  engaged  in  that  as  furiously  as 
you  once  searched  after  bugs.  .  .  .  Thursday  there 
Avas  very  hot,  even  in  their  cool  house.  I  suspect 
it  must  have  been  a  roaster  in  H.  I  started  about 
a  quarter  of  six  next  morning  for  Sharon.  It  was 
cloudy  and  looked  like  rain.  When  I  had  got  on 
some  eight  or  nine  miles,  it  began  to  rain  briskly, 
and  as  I  had  arrived  at  a  trout  brook,  I  fished,  and 
had  decent  luck;  then  I  went  to  another  flowing 
into  the  Housatonic.  I  should  have  had  splendid 
success,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  rain,  which  came 
down  in  floods.  As  it  was,  I  caught  some  very  fine 
ones;  one  must  have  weighed  a  pound  or  more.  I 
took  dinner  on  three-fourths  of  a  pie  and  a  cup  of 
coffee,  which  warmed  me  up  well.  Then  on  I  went, 
through  as  hard  a  rain  as  I  ever  saw, — ■  soon  not  a 
dry  thread  on  me.  I  kept  up  my  spirits  while  I 
gulped  down  the  workings  of  the  apple  pie  in  my 
stomach,  for  a  long  while,  by  singing  (ahem!)  or 
composing,  or  pleasant  imaginings.  I  think  it  would 
have  been  rich  to  have  seen  me  —  such  a  forlorn- 
looking  object,  trying  to  croak  forth  "  Let  us  be  joy- 
ful! "  or  "Thou  relr/nest,^^  etc.  The  contemplative- 
looking  geese  and  stolid-faced  pigs  that  I  met  seemed 


20  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1844 

to  look  at  me,  as  though  they  took  a  sort  of  pleasure 
in  my  sufferings.  One  impudent  little  squirrel  sat 
and  watched  me  a  long  while,  as  though  he  did 
think  I  was  foolish  in  coming  out  in  that  drizzle. 
However,  on  I  went,  and  arrived  at  Sharon  in  the 
beginning  of  the  p.m.  comj)letely  chilled  through, 
.  .  .  My  expedition  here  has  cost  me  thirty-one  and 
one-half  cents  (you  paid  fifty  cents)  for  the  trunk, 
and  twenty-two  cents  for  eatables.  To-morrow  I 
shall  trout,  and  expect  great  luck. 

To  the  Same. 

Litchfield,  Sept.  3,  1844. 
Dear  Father  :  I  arrived  here  last  night  about  seven, 
pretty  considerably  tired.  How  those  hills  do  accu- 
mulate just  before  Litchfield !  —  it  seems  as  if  one 
would  never  reach  the  top  of  that  range.  My  first 
nine  miles  I  accomplished  in  two  hours,  and  reached 
Farmington  before  seven  o'clock  —  pretty  good  walk- 
ing that!  Mr.  Whitman  recognized  me  as  your  son 
principally  from  my  fishing- basket.  Nothing  partic- 
ular happened  except  a  countryman  in  the  tavern 
told  me  I  should  be  unlucky,  for  "the  sign  was  in 
my  legs."  What  the  deuce  he  meant  I  don't  know. 
His  sign,  I  could  have  told  him,  was  decidedly  in 
his  nose,  which  looked  ominously  red. 

Late  in  1843  we  find  Charles's  thoughts  turning 
more  and  more  strongly  to  moral  questions,  and  we 
begin  at  this  time  to  discover  the  first  signs  of 
awakening  of  the  humanitarian  side  of  his  character, 


Mt.  IS]      VIEWS  OF  ]\rORAL  PHILOSOPHY  21 

which  grew  steadily  tliroughout  his  college  course, 
so  that  one  of  his  friends  says  he  addressed  him  soon 
after  leaving  college  as  "My  dear  philanthropist." 
The  following  series  of  letters  give  us  slight  glimpses 
of  this,  mingled  with  pictures  of  the  varied  interests 
of  the  young  man's  life. 

To  Jus  Father. 

College,  December,  1843. 

Dear  Father:  I  write  in  haste  to  tell  you  our  sub- 
jects for  Prize  Composition.  The  first  was  "The 
Influences  of  Poetry,"  next  "The  Influences  of  His- 
tory," and  third,  "Philosophy."  This  last  we  can 
take  up  either  generally,  or  in  each  of  its  branches, 
as  for  example,  "Intellectual,  Moral,  Political,  etc." 
I  have  concluded  to  take  "  Moral  Philosophy "  as 
my  subject,  both  because  it  is  more  difficult  and 
more  beneficial  for  me  to  write  upon,  and  because  I 
like  it.  I  consider  "  Moral  Philosophy  "  to  be  the 
science  of  the  principles  of  duty  and  of  the  obliga- 
tions of  man.  I  do  not  propose  to  consider  it  theo- 
retically, as  to  the  grounds  of  moral  obligation  and 
freedom  of  will,  etc.,  etc.,  neither  to  give  a  history 
of  its  progress  as  a  science,  but  to  view  it  practically. 
Something  in  this  way:  Moral  Philosophy  as  the 
studies  or  inquiries  or  attempts  that  have  for  their 
object  the  knowledge  and  necessities  (i.e.  arising 
from  the  relations  of  man  to  society,  to  himself,  and 
his  God,  and  from  many  other  things  which  I  haven't 
thought   of  yet)   of   this   science.      Secondly,   The 


22  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1844 

influences  of  it.  Thirdly,  The  objects  of  it;  and  a 
conclusion  either  on  its  future  influence  co-operating 
with  Christianity  or  on  the  continued  improvement 
it  is  destined  to  have,  or  its  influence  on  the  evils 
now  threatening  our  country.  This,  of  course,  is 
but  a  slight  skeleton  of  the  manner  I  intend  to  treat 
it;  interspersed  with  objections,  etc.,  etc.  I  wish 
you  would  either  suggest  some  of  your  own  thoughts 
on  this,  or  tell  me  of  some  good  reading  on  it.  There 
will  be  a  great  struggle  for  the  prizes,  and  I  am  anx- 
ious to  do  well.     Please  not  mention  I  am  trying. 

March  22,  1844.  ...  I  should  like  to  know, 
father,  whether  you  have  any  process  of  thinking  — ■ 
I  mean  on  some  subject  you  are  going  to  write  about. 
Now  I  never  can  think  out  a  subject  merely  by  think- 
ing, but  I  have,  if  it's  at  all  of  a  metaphysical  sub- 
ject, to  commence  by  examining  what  its  effects  or 
results  would  be  on  me,  what  its  causes  would  be  in 
my  case ;  or,  if  it  is  a  subject  of  a  different  kind,  I 
have  to  refer  in  mind  to  history  for  similar  facts, 
and  from  these  draw  my  conclusion  or  see  the  influ- 
ence of  the  topic  I  am  treating  of,  upon  the  nations 
of  the  world.  I  have  to  look  much  at  analogies  to 
commence  my  reasoning  —  now  is  this  the  right 
way?  Give  me  your  opinions,  if  you  please,  upon 
this.  I  send  you  up  a  composition,  hastil}''  copied, 
so  that  you  may  have  some  trouble  with  it,  and,  I 
am  afraid,  rather  hastily  written.  It  strikes  me  I 
have  got  into  rather  too  dry  a  way  of  writing  —  great 
heads  and  little  heads  very  manifest  —  too  sermon- 
like, numberless  heads  and  horns. 


iEx.  18]  CONVERSIONS  AT  COLLEGE  23 

...  I  slioukl  like  to  make  a  kind  of  plan  of 
what  —  Deo  juvante  —  I'll  do  in  vacation :  — 

First  for  reading: —  Trout-fish  (in  Windsor). 

Some  of  Byron.  If  possil)le,  etc.,  go  up  to  Litchfu'ld 

Some  of  Scott's  poetry.  to  try  the  pickerel  with  you. 

Bancroft,  if  I  have  time. 
Some  of  Swift  (Tale  of  a  Tub  and  Gulliver). 
Carlyle's  Miscellanies. 
Copy  off  some  of  Macaulay  and  Irving. 
Attempt  to  write  some. 
Prescott,  perhaps. 

Study  German,  if  possible,  with  Emma. 
May  study  a  little  ahead  in  Conic  Sections  (?  ?  ?  ?). 
Stephen's  Miscellanies. 
Constitution  of  U.  S. 
Tariff  Question. 
Political  characters  I  must  know. 

I  have  great  expectations  of  a  large  revival  of 
religion  here  even  in  the  few  remaining  weeks. 
There  have  been  some  most  remarkable  conversions, 
—  showing  the  power  of  religion  as  I  have  never 
seen  it  before, —  some  of  the  most  signal  and  especial 
answers  to  prayer.  .  .  .  There  are  many  other  cases 
which  I  haven't  time  to  mention,  and  many  symp- 
toms of  a  great  change.  God  only  knows  whether  it 
will  take  place.  By  the  way,  Mary  C has  be- 
come a  Christian,  and  in  rather  a  singular  manner, 
which  I  will  tell  you,  but  don't  mention  it.  It 
seems  she  has  somehow  become  acquainted  with 
several  of  our  very  pious  students.  Well,  as  she 
was  to  leave  for  New  York  on  Saturday  last,  they 
concluded  something  must  be  done.  On  Friday 
evening  they  induced  her  to  go  to  a  meeting,  which, 


24  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1844 

however,  didn't  affect  her  much.  On  Saturday  one 
of  them  had  a  long  religious  conversation  with  her, 
but  produced  no  effect  except  to  induce  her  to  stay 
and  go  to  a  meeting  on  Sunday  night.  That  night 
her  friends  sat  up  till  one  o'clock  praying  for  her, 
and  the  next  morning  by  ten  o'clock,  as  one  of  them 
expressed  it  to  me,  "She  was  rejoicing  in  hope."  I 
trust  it  will  prove  a  true  conversion. 

Spring  !  Spring  I 

"  'Tis  Spring,  'tis  Spring,  I  know  it  is, 
For  the  little  pigs  are  out,  etc." 

May,  1844.  ...  I  do  not  think  I  should  ever 
have  cared  one  snap  for  green  fields  and  trees  and 
woods  and  all  that  kind  of  thing,  if  I  had  never 
trout-fished.  I  hope  you'll  write  me  of  all  the 
fishing  scrapes  that  come  off  this  summer. 

How  does  your  school  come  on  —  any  fuller?  I 
am  very  sorry  I  spent  the  money  I  did  in  vacation  — 
it  was  very  foolish  and  wrong.  I  might  have  spent 
it,  even  if  I  could  have  afforded  it,  for  much  better 
objects.  However,  regret  will  do  no  good.  All  I 
shall  do  will  be  not  to  spend  any  this  term.  I  am 
resolved,  neither  to  take  or  give  a  treat  this  session, 
not  even  a  glass  of  soda-water  or  beer.  I  want  to 
know,  father,  whether  you  can't  afford  Emma  a 
French  teacher.  If  you  cannot,  situated  as  you  now 
are,  let  me  know  immediately.  I  think  I  can 
arrange  it  so  as  to  save  you  some  dollars  or  so.  I 
can  board  very  cheap  indeed  if  I  choose.  Emma 
ought  to  have  an  education  certainly. 


Mt.  18]     OPINIOXS  ON  CARLYLE   AND  SCOTT       25 

Spring,  1844.  ...  As  for  mj'self,  I  am  getting 
along  as  usual,  except  tliat  I  have  had  one  toothache 
sickness.  However,  I  have  never  enjoyed  such  good 
health  in  my  life  as  this  summer,  and  have  never 
exercised  more.  I  have  read  some  little,  particularly 
in  Carlyle.  I  do  think  he  has  some  thoughts  which 
we  rarely  meet  elsewhere  —  a  real  philosopliical 
poet's  mind.  But  I  do  not  like  his  religious  senti- 
ments. Not  that  he's  infidel  at  all,  but  I  do  not 
believe  he  knows  any  of  the  consolations  of  religion. 
He  analyzes  a  character  splendidly,  showing  reme- 
dies for  defects,  and  evidently  knows  more  than  most 
of  the  sources  of  poetic  feeling,  yet  there  are  some 
feelings  he  knows  not  of.  .  .  .  His  article  on  Scott 
is  fine,  —  some  of  it.  Do  you  recollect  the  part 
where  he  speaks  of  Scott  when  bankrupt?  How  he 
girded  himself  to  meet  his  misfortunes  like  a  proud, 
strong  man  of  the  world ?  —  "It  was  a  hard  trial.  He 
met  it  proudly,  bravely,  with  a  noble  cheerfulness, 
while  his  life  strings  were  cracking;  he  grappled 
with  his  task  and  wrestled  with  it  years  long,  in 
death  grips,  strength  to  strength,  —  and  it  proved 
the  stronger,  and  his  life  and  heart  did  crack  and 
break ;  the  cordage  of  a  most  strong  heart ! "  He  then 
tells  us  of  Scott's  refuge,  instead  of  struggling  —  the 
refuge  of  "acknowledging himself  wrong."  But  who 
would  or  could  choose  such  a  refuge  ?  it  would  give 
no  satisfaction.  The  only  refuge  for  such  a  man  as 
Scott  in  misfortune  was  in  religion,  to  come  humbly 
to  his  Father  in  Heaven,  to  confess  he  had  laid  up 
his  treasure  elsewhere  than  in  heaven,  to  thank  God 
for  this  his  paternal  chastisement,  and  to  resolve  to 
place  liis  happiness  where  he  should  find  no  disap- 


26  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1845 

pointment.  If  Scott  had  been  a  religious  man,  with 
his  noble  heart  he  would  have  done  this,  and  found 
that  "peace  which  the  world  cannot  take  away."  If 
Carlyle  had  been  a  religious  man,  he  would  have 
spoken  of  that  best  refuge.  But  don't  you  admire 
Scott's  character, —  that  warm-hearted  enthusiasm 
and  that  strength  too?  .  .  .  You  feel  too  much 
about  your  children  suffering  from  poverty.  Bless 
me!  what  poverty  have  we  suffered?  I  have  had 
many  more  luxuries  than  were  good  for  me,  and 
more  advantages  than  some  of  the  richest  fellows.  I 
believe  even  our  little  self-denial  has  been  the  very 
best  thing:  for  us.  I  am  conscious  if  I  had  had 
wealth  I  should  have  been  even  much  worse  than 
now.  Besides,  if  I  am  going  to  do  any  good  in  life, 
I  must  begin  by  denying  myself  now.  I  am  afraid, 
father,  you  are  not  as  happy  nowadays  as  I  could 
wish.  I  know  you  have  many  troubles,  but  do  not 
let  thoughts  of  your  children  distress  you.  I  need 
not  tell  you,  for  you  know  it  well,  how  deep  is  my 
love  for  you  —  how  much  do  I  owe  to  you !  It  used 
to  make  me  very  sad  when  you  spoke  of  dying  so 
soon,  but  now  I  have  somewhat  of  a  hope  we  shall 
all  meet  in  Heaven.     So  cheer  up,  do,  father. 

His  life  during  the  last  year  in  college,  the  winter 
of  '45-'46,  grew  more  filled  with  content  in  his  friend- 
ships and  his  work.  Besides  following  the  studies 
required,  a  small  set  of  friends  worked  in  Professor 
Silliman's  laboratory,  "to  the  profit  of  some,  and  to 
the  solid  satisfaction  of  all.     We  read  and  studied 


^T.  19]  HIS  RECEPTIVITY  27 

and  talked  and  experimented  beyond  anything  re- 
quired by  the  reguhxr  courses.  College  students 
always  get  a  large  and  valuable  part  of  their  educa- 
tion from  each  other,  and  perhaps  this  set  to  which 
he  belonged  did  this  more  than  most.  We  discussed 
things  endlessly."  So  writes  Mr.  Kingsbury,  a  class- 
mate and  life-long  intimate,  and  he  goes  on  to  say, 
"Brace's  mind  was  wonderfully  receptive  and  unprej- 
udiced. He  was  never  opinionated  nor  dogmatic. 
'How  does  it  strike  you?'  and  'What  do  you  think 
of  it?  '  and  'What  should  you  say  to  this?  '  indicate 
his  mental  attitude  on  almost  every  subject  that 
came  up,  and  there  were  very  few  subjects  that  did 
not  come  up,  at  one  time  or  another,  in  our  discus- 
sions. ...  Of  course,  religion,  theoretical  and 
practical,  general  and  personal,  entered  largely  into 
these  discussions."  Another  friend  says,  in  1848, 
of  this  small  coterie :  "  You  speak  in  your  letter  of 
our  old  college  friends.  They  ivere  a  glorious  set, 
Charley;  we  shall  never  meet  their  like  again.  We 
cannot  expect  to  find  again  such  sympathy  of  spirit, 
and  such  congeniality  of  taste  and  feeling,  as  we  met 
with  in  those  whose  objects,  interests,  and  hopes 
were  for  the  time  identical  with  ours."  And  Charles 
writes  in  1846  to  F.  J.  Kingsbury:  — 

"Yes,  your  remark  is   correct.     We   are   a   most 
uncommon  set  of   common  friends.     I  find  myself 


28  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1846 

falling  into  the  conviction  occasionally  that  '  we  are 
the  saints  '  and  no  mistake.  I  believe  I  am  more 
thankful  for  friends  than  almost  anything  in  this 
world.  Do  you  remember  Carlyle's  remark  about 
wealth?  'A  man's  wealth  is  in  the  number  of  things 
he  loves  and  blesses,  which  he  is  loved  and  blessed 
by.'  Good,  isn't  it?  The  last  two  years  have  been 
very,  very  pleasant.  The  first  part  I  was  green,  no 
mistake.  There  hasn't  been  anything  like  this  last 
winter  though.  Oh,  how  different  it  has  made  me ! 
Don't  you  find  yourself,  Fred,  enjoying  your  religion 
more  now  than  you  used  to?  I  do.  I  never  had 
quite  such  feelings  before.  I  never  felt  so  much 
before  what  a  good  God  was  over  me.  I  never  be- 
lieved so  before  in  the  reality  of  an  eternal  life." 


CHAPTER    II 

Decision  to  enter  the  INIinistry  —  Teaching  at  Ellington  and  Win- 
chendon  —  Letters  on  his  Reading  —  Earnest  Resolves  —  Visit 
iu  New  Milf ord  —  Theological  Year  in  New  Haven  —  Letters  — 
Period  of  Speculation  —  Theological  Letters  —  Miscellaneous 
Letters  —  Letter  on  Friendships 

There  seems  to  be  no  record  of  when  Charles 
made  his  decision  to  go  into  the  ministry,  but  it  was 
probably  at  this  time,  as  we  find  under  the  date  Dec. 
30,  1845,  a  letter  from  his  friend,  William  Colt,  an- 
swering what  appears  to  be  a  statement  on  Charles's 
part  that  he  dreads  the  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
misery  and  wickedness  of  the  world  which  a  reformer 
and  clergyman  must  have.  William  Colt  says:  "I 
can  only  say,  that  I  think  the  repugnance  you  feel 
to  plunging  into  a  world  of  vice  and  sin,  to  rescue 
the  degraded  and  the  vile,  the  ignorant  and  filthy, 
will  wear  away  with  more  familiarity  with  this  very 
class  of  humanity."  This  glimpse  of  the  first  repug- 
nance to  suffering,  on  the  part  of  the  high-strung, 
nervous  young  man,  presents  a  side  of  his  character 
which  might  too  easily  be  lost  sight  of,  in  the  con- 
templation of  a  life  of  such  active  and  practical 
beneficence  as  his. 

29 


30  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1846 

But  whenever  the  decision  of  studjdng  theology- 
was  made,  we  know  that  immediately  after  gradua- 
tion he  began  to  teach  in  order  to  gain  money  for 
this  object.  His  first  school  was  at  Ellington,  a 
small  village  in  Connecticut,  and  his  experience 
there  was  made  happy  by  the  companionship  of 
his  merry  young  friend  William  Colt,  who,  in  al- 
luding to  him  laughingly  as  the  vice-principal, 
used  to  say,  "Charley,  you  know  you  are  my 
only  v/cg." 

There  were  more  than  thirty  scholars,  of  whom 
some  twenty  were  older  than  their  teacher;  but  as 
they  were  none  of  them  "very  old  in  knowledge," 
as  he  says,  he  did  not  seem  to  be  alarmed.  Teach- 
ing in  itself  does  not  appear  to  have  especially 
appealed  to  him,  and  his  interest  in  the  work  was 
largely  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  found  it  possible 
to  exert  some  religious  influence.  He  was  grate- 
ful for  this;  but  it  was  a  narrow  life  with  few 
outlets  for  energies  and  enthusiasms  like  his,  and 
at  one  time  he  writes  that  he  feels  stifled,  at  an- 
other, that  he  is  leading  a  life  to  make  a  man  of  a 
youth  rather  soon,  and  longs  for  "some  real  youth- 
ful excitement, — a  dashing  game  of  football  or  a 
college  whoop ! "  Of  the  companionship  of  his 
friend,  he  says:  "It  is  a  far  different  chumming 
from  one  in  college.  Romance  goes  to  the  winds, 
and  all  you  have  at  the  end  of  each  day  are  two 


iEx.  20]  LIFE   AT  WINCHENDON  31 

tired,  cross  young  men  who  don't  agree  on  any 
two  subjects,  and  who  are  shocked  with  all  human 
nature's  selfishness." 

Of  Winchendon,  wdiere  he  went  after  a  few 
months  spent  at  Ellington,  he  writes  in  December, 
1816:  — 

"...  Winchendon  itself  is  an  active  little  bit 
of  a  country  place  —  thrifty,  industrious,  and  des- 
perately moral.  It's  built  on  a  dashing  stream, 
which  gives  the  power  for  its  manufactories,  and 
is  just  like  any  other  neat  village,  with  glaring 
white  houses,  a  large  tavern,  two  churches,  and 
the  schoolhouse,  built  after  the  Grecian  order,  with 
exceedingly  lean  pillars.  This  stream  I  spoke  of 
winds  off  away  from  the  town,  the  hills  reaching 
down  to  it  on  either  side,  skirted  with  trees,  and 
through  the  gorge  you  catch  glimpses  of  the  blue 
mountains  beyond, —  so  that  I  think  in  summer  it 
must  be  a  very  romantic  scene.  On  the  north- 
west of  the  place,  the  blue  peak  of  a  very  high 
mountain  rises,  some  dozen  miles  from  the  village." 

His  life  here  may  be  gathered  from  these  extracts 
from  letters  written  at  the  time. 

To  F.  J.  Kingsbury. 

Winchendon,  Feb.  11,  1847. 
Dear  Fred :   I   am  the  same   busy  individual   I 
always    have    been,   this   winter,   only   rather   more 
so.     Dipping  into  Theology  some,  and  writing  and 


32  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1847 

reading,  with  some  German.  Have  you  read  —  I 
know  you  haven't  —  "Cromwell's  Letters,"  etc.,  by 
Carlyle  ?  I  have  been  very  much  interested  indeed 
in  that  myself.  I  always  wanted  to  believe  Crom- 
well an  honest  man,  but  somehow  one  is  not  apt 
to  think  a  highly  religious  man  would  be  behead- 
ing kings  and  making  himself  emperor,  etc.  I  have 
only  read  the  first  volume,  but  those  letters  of  his 
bear  the  very  face  of  sincerity.  A  continent,  deeply 
religious,  plain  farmer,  is  all  he  appears  to  have  been 
for  some  forty  years.  Don't  you  think  one  is  apt  to 
think  Great  Men  always  know  they  are  going  to  be 
great  all  along  ?  When  I  suppose  they  have  no  more 
idea  of  it  than  you  that  you  are  going  to  fill  Judge 
Story's  seat  in  time.  I  like  these  letters  because 
one  can  realize  better  what  was  going  on  in  those 
times.  ...  I  have  been  more  and  more  interested 
in  "Cromwell's  Letters,"  as  I  have  read  them  along 
this  winter.  I  have  acquired  more  and  more  respect 
for  his  talents,  though  I  had  always  a  very  high 
opinion  that  way.  He's  so  modest,  so  silent  al- 
most, yet  so  tremendously  energetic,  and  I  should 
think,  judicious.  I  stumble  a  little  at  his  language 
in  his  letters.  It  isn't  cant,  for  people  don't  play 
the  hypocrite  from  the  very  earliest  life  all  along 
in  just  the  same  way.  And  yet  one  would  think 
a  man  with  such  a  solemn  sense  of  God  and  of  the 
unseen  world,  Avouldn't  be  apt  to  be  telling  of  it  so 
much.  We  wouldn't,  would  we?  .  .  .  I  suppose 
you,  like  us  all,  have  joined  in  the  laugh  some- 
times against  the  talk  about  the  "Infinite  Soul." 
And  I  dare  hardly  express  my  own  vague  thoughts 
about  it  now,  for  it  is  so  easy  to  make  a  hit  upon 


^T.  21]      PHILOSOPHICAL  SPECULATIONS  33 

it,  and  it  may  be  a  young  man's  "conceitedness," 
after  all.  But  must  not  we  confess  that  there  are 
times  when  one's  mind  turns  away  with  dissatis- 
faction from  everything  man  has  done.  We  do  not 
profess  we  could  do  better.  But  we  see  how  poor 
it  all  is  to  that  infinite  ideal  within  us.  I  am 
perfectly  conscious  that  I  would  not  accept  Shake- 
speare's or  Scott's  genius,  on  the  condition  I  should 
do  no  more  for  men.  We  never  meet  the  most  per- 
fect character  but  we  leave  it  with  a  sad  feeling  of 
human  imperfection.  Isn't  it  so?  No  work  of  art 
or  genius  ever  satisfies  us.  But  why  should  I  talk 
about  this  ?  We  have  both  felt  it  enough  probably, 
and  with  me  there  will  be  new  lessons  in  it  every 
day  of  life.  I  wonder,  by  the  way,  whether  the  sad- 
ness which  with  me  always  comes  with  my  most 
perfect  happiness,  isn't  the  result  of  that  feeling? 
Perhaps  the  moments  of  sympathy  shadow  out  the 
unbounded  Love  we  might  enjoy,  and  we  are  sad 
at  our  imperfect  joys.  Yet  when  I  think  of  God, 
this  sense  of  the  grandeur  of  the  soul  seems  to  pass 
away.  Perhaps  my  sense  of  its  capability  to  sym- 
pathize and  love,  does  not.  But  I  realize  its  power- 
lessness.  I  was  walking  out  the  other  night,  and 
began  looking  at  the  stars.  The  first  time  for 
months  I  really  saw  them.  There  came  over  me 
then,  partly  from  will  and  partly  unconsciously,  a 
most  aiving  sense  of  Infinite  Power,  and  I  compre- 
hended my  perfect  helplessness,  as  I  should  go  out 
into  that  Eternity.  The  idea  would  have  been  over- 
whelming almost,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  remem- 
brance of  Christ.  And  I  saw  again  that  this  same 
Being,  whose  awful  Power  Avould  be  before  me,  as  I 


34  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

stepped  from  Life,  was  Christ,  and  I  had  a  faint  con- 
ception of  a  Heart  Infinite,  as  well  as  Power;  —  you 
know  what  such  moments  are.  And  you  know  how 
mean  language  is  to  show  them. 

With  the  close  of  the  school  year,  Charles  ended 
his  school-teaching,  and  before  settling  in  New 
Haven  to  follow  his  studies  in  theology  there,  he 
joined  the  home  circle  at  New  Milford,  where  his 
father  was  living,  teaching  a  small  school.  From 
there  he  writes  to  his  friend,  Kingsbury :  — 

"  Your  short  summary  has  expressed  all  that  I  did 
in  Hartford,  without  my  going  into  details,  and 
since  then  that  same  vivid  imagination  may  carry 
you  on  with  me  in  my  trouting,  my  ramblings  over 
mountains  and  by  willow-fringed  brooks,  all  my 
ecstasies  over  the  fresh  green  meadows  and  waving 
woods  and  bright  flowers  and  trout  streams,  which 
would  make  the  heart  of  old  'Isaac'  leap  within 
him. 

"...  Well,  my  boy,  here  I  am  in  New  Milford, 
and  find  the  folks  well  and  happy  as  clams.  I  am 
regularly  settled  for  the  summer,  at  least  till  the 
fellows  come  on.  I  read  and  study  and  walk,  etc., 
hjsides  teaching  the  classics  an  hour  or  two  for 
ither  each  day,  thereby  assisting  him  very  consid- 
jiably." 

In  the  autumn  of  1847,  Charles  returned  to  New 
Haven  to  take  up  his  theological  course,  and  began 
a  life  of  study  which  was  full  of  interest  and  enjoy- 


^T.21]  METAPHYSICAL  STUDY  35 

ment,  Avhile  his  social  experiences  became  more 
satisfactory  than  they  had  ever  been.  There  was  a 
delightful  circle  of  young  people  whom  he  met  con- 
stantly in  quiet,  informal  evening  entertainments. 

To  F.  J.  Kingsbury. 

New  Haven,  Nov.  2,  1847. 

.  .  .  As  for  myself,  I  am  flying  around  somewhat 
as  in  college  days  (nunquam  redituri  f),  talking  meta- 
physics with  Miss  Blake,  arguing  on  aristocracy 
with  Miss  Baldwin,  or  going  to  scientific  lectures 
with  her,  where  she  has  headaches  and  gapes.  And 
if  you  could  see  us  when  we've  all  assembled  in  the 
parlor  after  some  lecture,  with  Mrs.  Baldwin  to  ask 
questions  about  the  discourse,  and  the  horror  of 
D  wight  Foster,  who  generally  sleeps  through  the 
part  Mrs.  B.  is  most  interested  in,  and  is  not  per- 
haps the  best  qualified  to  make  intelligent  replies. 

I  am  pitching  into  the  metaphysics,  and,  by  the 
way,  Fred,  what  I  send  you  in  that  line  is  always 
written  off,  of  course,  at  the  moment,  and  is  not  per- 
haps always  of  the  clearest.  For  exercise,  I  occa- 
sionally kick  football  with  the  laity,  and  walk  to 
East  Rock,  and  such  places.  ...  I  find  myself, 
Fred,  with  somewhat  different  views  of  things  from 
many  here.  I  do  not  believe  the  most  profitable 
conversations  are  always  those  on  the  most  argu- 
mentative subjects  or  the  most  solemn  topics.  I 
enjoy  this  light,  pleasant  conversation,  where  3'ou 
apparently  just  touch  on  the  surface  of  things,  while 
there  is  an  undercurrent  of  deep  feeling.     There  is 


36  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

more  real  philosophy  in  such,  half  the  time,  than  in 
all  your  metaphysics.  Yet  I  feel  my  own  deficiency 
strongly  in  that.  M3'  mind  don't  seem  to  work  much 
on  those  light,  pleasant  analogies  of  things.  I  am 
more  apt  to  take  serious  views.  I  am,  I  fully  be- 
lieve, a  solemn  body. 


To  the  Same. 

Fred,  I  do  want  expression  amazingly.  I  am  half 
inclined  to  think  my  mind  is  changing  somewhat, 
for  my  own  company  never  rewarded  me  as  it  does 
now,  and  I  have  conceptions  now  and  then,  such 
as  for  a  moment  make  me  fear  I  am  crazy,  until 
the  dinner  liour  re-establishes  my  terrestrial  sanity 
again.  I  am  almost  afraid  now  to  speak  of  this, 
lest  the  dreams  should  never  come  again.  Though, 
on  the  whole,  I  think  I  am  at  last  beginning  to  reap 
the  fruits  of  education.  But  what  troubles  me  is, 
that  I  have  no  power  within  me  in  the  least  to  ex- 
press such  imaginings.  The  words  in  which  I  should 
shape  them  totally  disfigure,  almost  hide  them.  The 
airy,  unearthly  shapes  become  mere  everyday  forms 
in  dress-coats  and  boots  like  all  others,  as  soon  as  I 
use  language.  I  wish  you  would  tell  me,  whether 
you  find  any  such  difficulties.  Of  course,  though,  you 
do.  Perhaps  my  study  of  language  is  now  to  begin, 
and  I  am  just  a  freshman  in  the  great  course  of 
learning  to  clothe  thoughts  so  that  they  shall  appear 
to  others  as  they  do  to  myself.  That's  it,  isn't  it? 
That  is  real  expression.  I  know  I  must  unlearn 
much  for  it,  and  it  will  be  a  hard  work.     To  refuse 


iEx.  21]  ENGLISH  STYLE  37 

commonplace,  general  words,  to  get  just  the  terms 
which  you  know  express  the  freshness  of  your 
thoughts.  And  yet  this  language  is  a  queer  thing. 
Here's  an  intelligent,  moderately  educated  girl,  but 
with  real  imagination,  and  her  thoughts  will  come 
forth  in  words,  such  as  years  of  study  could  not  give 
the  student.  Words  and  thoughts  lie  very  close  to 
one  another,  somewhere.  It's  queer  that  a  half- 
brute  of  an  Irishman  in  a  passion  is  really  eloquent. 
And  now  I  am  opening  my  budget  of  medita- 
tions, I  may  as  well  remark  that  after  a  great  deal  of 
most  delightful  study  of  the  classics,  I  am  getting 
a  little  dubious  as  to  the  use, —  at  least  of  carrying 
it  to  a  great  extent.  Of  course  it  is  almost  indis- 
pensable during  a  part  of  our  education.  But  I  am 
not  sure  that  the  best  mastering  of  English  is  gained 
by  it,  and  I  rather  incline  to  believe  pointed  English 
(Syd.  Smith's,  etc.)  is  injured  by  it.  Take  Prex. 
Woolsey's  "classic  style."  Pure  as  it  is,  it  does  not 
attain  to  the  force  and  richness  the  English  is  capa- 
ble of.  It  is  not  the  style  I  should  want.  There  are 
no  treasures  in  Greek  like  ShakesjDcare,  and  I  don't 
think  Demosthenes  goes  much  ahead  of  Webster. 
What  do  you  think  ?  There  are  some  great  things 
to  be  got  out  of  English,  yet  —  shall  we  be  tharf 

The  period  of  deepest  speculation  on  doctrinal  and 
religious  subjects,  the  outcome  of  Bushnell's  influ- 
ence, had  now  come  to  Charles.  With  reverence, 
with  an  occasional  dread  —  for  in  spite  of  his  ad- 
vanced views  he  was  always  conservative  in  ten- 
dency —  that  a  stern  God  would  punish  the  freedom 


S8  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

of  thought  and  argument  in  which  he  indulged,  but 
with  a  passion  to  find  God  by  getting  nearer  truth, 
he  sought,  by  stating  his  views  in  his  letters  to 
fiiends,  to  clear  his  own  opinions  and  gain  their 
help  and  sympathy.  The  letters  indicate  that  his 
views  were  considered  dangerous  by  his  correspond- 
ents.    To  one  he  says:  — 

"Now  mind  I  don't  say  that  we  may  not  be 
dangerous.  We  may  reason  wrong;  we  may  be 
prejudiced  or  foolish  or  weak,  or,  to  express  it 
all  in  result,  we  may  reason  wrong.  But  that 
there  can  be  anything  wrong  in  searching  for  truth 
freely,  or  in  uprooting  the  dearest  opinion  to  see 
what  lies  under  it,  or  in  applying  our  individual 
judgment  to  any  truth  (be  it  even  God's  existence), 
I  do  not  see.  ...  I  am  dipping  into  history  con- 
siderably, and  one  fact  looms  up  on  every  page.  How 
much  men  are  influenced  by  circumstances  to  overlook 
truth  !  Here  in  one  place,  some  poor  vulgar  men  are 
telling  everywhere  of  a  strange  belief  of  theirs.  The 
philosophers  think  nothing  so  mean  could  teach 
mankind  anything,  so  they  won't  look  at  it.  The 
religious,  benevolent  men  look  around  on  a  religion 
sanctioned  by  the  belief  of  ages,  connected  with 
every  kind  and  pure  feeling  they  have,  and  they 
dread  innovation,  and  they  fear  the  'danger '  from 
this  new  Creed,  and  they  let  it  go.  And  so  with 
many  and  many  a  man,  more  philosophical  and  can- 
did on  other  subjects  than  you  or  I :  he  utterly  loses 
sight  of  the  truth  in  this,  and  rejects  it.     But  after 


tEt.  21]       THE   FEAR   OF   FREE   THOUGHT  39 

a  while  the  vulgar  Creed  became  Christianity,  and 
then  the  wise  wondered  that  those  pure,  benevolent, 
heathen  philosophers  could  have  so  overlooked  it, 
when  apparently  in  everything  else  they  so  wanted 
truth.  And  right  in  the  midst  of  their  wonderment, 
you  hear  them  damning  those  'heretics,'  who  want 
to  overturn  cherished  beliefs,  or  add  new  ones  to 
those  which  had  fed  mankind  so  long!  I  find  these 
lessons  on  almost  every  page,  and  for  my  part  I  am 
determined  never  for  a  moment  to  refuse  hearing  a 
truth  because  it  is  new,  and  never  to  be  afraid  to  dig 
under  a  belief  because  it  is  old  and  dearly  loved. 
God  help  me  in  it.  I  have  no  more  fear  of  Free- 
thinking  than  I  have  of  Charity." 

The  following  set  of  undated  letters  belong 
probably  to  this  period. 

To  F.  J.  Kingsbury. 

My  dear  Fred:  It  is  Saturday  night,  and  as  I 
have  been  wishing  some  time  to  have  one  of  our  old 
theological  chats,  I  think  I'll  commence  one  to-night. 
I  should  like  your  opinion  on  all  these  points,  so  the 
next  time  you  are  theologically  disposed  just  write 
off  your  thoughts  on  these  or  like  subjects. 

I  have  had,  one  way  or  another,  brought  up  before 
my  mind,  for  some  time,  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  It  is  given,  we  know,  in  answer  to  prayer. 
The  question  in  my  mind  is.  Does  this  portion  of  the 
Deity  influence  the  mind  miraculously  or  not?  That 
is,  Is  some  mysterious  influence  exerted  on  the  mind. 


40  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

contrary  to  the  usual  methods  in  which  it  is  influ- 
enced ?  Is  the  soul  of  man  convinced  and  his  motives 
changed  by  some  operation,  in  which  the  reason  has 
no  share  ?  This,  I  think,  is  the  common  belief.  It 
is  asked  if  we  ever  know  the  first  origin  of  some 
train  of  thoughts,  and  can  we  deny  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  may  have  suggested  the  first  thought  in  that 
train  which  induced  a  man  to  become  a  Christian. 
If  it  is  meant  that  the  mind  is  affected  in  some  way, 
contrary  to  the  usual  method  in  wliich  that  organ  is 
influenced,  there  is  a  grand  objection  in  the  fact 
that  we  assume  a  miracle  at  once,  and  of  course  need 
overwhelming  evidence  to  support  it.  If  it  is  meant 
that  the  mind  is  worked  upon  naturally  and  yet  in 
answer  to  prayer,  do  we  assert  that  God  changed  any 
of  the  laws  by  which  now  everything  in  the  world 
goes  on?  And  how  do  we  make  conversion  anything 
but  a  natural  intellectual  and  moral  change,  for 
which  we  have  no  more  right  to  claim  Divine  Influ- 
ence, than  for  the  reformation  of  the  drunkard  ? 

My  own  belief  inclines  to  this,  that  the  change 
itself  is  not  miraculous  in  any  way,  but  that  the 
Divine  Influence  is  shown  in  presenting  such  induce- 
ments as  to  effect  a  complete  change  in  all  a  man's 
motives.  Hoiv  these  inducements  are  presented,  I 
cannot  explain,  any  more  than  I  can  any  of  God's 
complicated  government.  But  I  cannot  think  the 
mind  is  influenced  in  any  way  which  implies  it  is 
not  a  free  agent.  Yet  this  belief  does  not  satisfy 
me.  It  does  not  meet  the  Bible  account  entirely. 
It  implies  that  a  completely  depraved  creature, 
without  one  spark  of  love  for  God,  can  by  himself 
attain  to  such  a  state  as  to  love  Him.     And  here  I 


iET.  21]  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD  41 

should  like  to  say  that  very  many  of  the  arguments 
for  conversion  can  never  be  used  to  an  unbeliever. 
For  my  own  part,  I  have  searched  very  closely  the 
workings  of  my  religious  feelings,  and  I  have  never 
yet  seen  anything  which  could  not  be  explained  if 
no  God  existed.  To  this  I  might  except  one  thing, 
—  my  own  moral  reformation  at  different  periods  of 
ray  life.  It  has  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  not  have 
succeeded  in  this  without  God's  help.  And  yet, 
how  am  I  sure  of  this  ?  If  there  were  no  God,  would 
not  the  feeling  that  there  was  a  Being  above  who 
saw  every  thought  and  action  and  who  required  them 
to  be  of  such  a  nature,  aid  me  in  making  them  thus? 
Would  not  the  penitence,  which  my  prayers  at  once 
express  and  produce,  have  a  good  effect  for  the 
future  on  my  mind,  even  if  no  Being  ever  heard 
them?  I  believe  that  God  answers  prayer,  for  the 
Bible  tells  us  that.  But  I  want  some  other  reason, 
some   satisfying   evidence   in   my  own   experience. 


To  the  Same. 

My  dear  Fred :  You  wrote  me  in  one  of  your  let- 
ters something  about  a  book  on  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  with  some  thoughts  of  your  own.  There's 
nothing  in  our  Creed  ever  puzzled  me  more  than  the 
"Trinity,"  bat  the  "Atonement"  comes  in  with  a 
natural  recommendation,  so  to  speak,  to  me.  I  can 
feel  sometimes  that  "mine  iniquities  are  infinite," 
and  that  mere  repentance  and  reformation  could  give 
me  no  claim  on  the  mercy  of  the  "Law  Giver."  T 
can  see  that  a   moral    ofovernment   must   all  ctq  to 


42  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

pieces,  if  every  man  could  sin  and  then  escape  pun- 
ishment by  repenting.  How  it  would  work  in  an 
army  to  have  such  a  system  in  regard  to  deserting! 
Well,  then,  1  find  that  God  in  His  "perfect  love," 
has  met  that  difficulty  by  taking  on  Himself  the 
punishment  which  was  due  to  us,  that  He  has  in 
some  mysterious  way  made  a  man  the  representation 
of  Divinity,  so  that  all  the  sufferings,  the  sorrows, 
the  degradation  of  Christ,  were  so  many  indignities 
heaped  on  Himself,  and  that  then  He  has  offered 
forgiveness  to  all  on  some  conditions,  which  condi- 
tions were  partly  designed  to  change  the  sinner's 
moral  state,  and  partly  to  make  him  acknowledge 
that  Another  had  taken  the  punishment  which  he 
deserved  and  still  deserves,  and  perhaps  from  all  to 
lead  the  man  to  love  and  serve  that  good  Being  who 
had  done  so  much  for  him. 

This  may  all  be  old  and  dull  to  you,  but  it  is  the 
way  I  have  at  length  worked  it  out.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve the  Infinite  One  "suffered."  Still  the  indig- 
nity was  all  heaped  upon  Him.  I  cannot  explain 
how  the  Almighty  could  be  present  in  a  man,  nor 
how  the  human  soul  lived  with  the  Divine.  Who 
can?  Nor  what  became  of  the  human  soul  when 
Christ  arose.  I  suppose,  as  you  say  here,  we  get  on 
to  things  our  faculties  cannot  grasp.  But  I  can 
understand  that  there  is  need  of  an  atonement.  I 
can  feel  that  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  keep  up 
the  government  of  God  over  moral  beings,  without 
something  to  show  His  hatred  of  sin,  and  that 
something  was  contrived  in  Infinite  Love.  Still  it 
sometimes  occurs  to  me  why  God  could  not  have 
made  a  parental  government  over  men,  and  appointed 


iET.  21]  THEOLOGICAL  QUESTIONS  4S 

that  genuine  repentance  should  be  a  pledge  always 
of  forgiveness.  His  punishment  for  the  unrepent- 
ant would  show  them  His  hatred  of  sin.  Pardon 
would  then  be  a  free  gift  of  the  Love  of  God,  for  tlie 
repentance  gave  the  sinner  no  claim.  Men  would 
not  sin  in  the  hope  of  repenting  then,  any  more  tha:. 
now.  Tell  me  what  you  think.  Is  there  anything 
in  the  nature  of  things  to  prevent  there  being  such 
a  government  ? 

I  should  like  to  have  you  tell  me  what  you  think 
becomes  of  the  heathen.  But  it  is  growing  late,  and 
I  must  close  the  Croton  Fountains. 

It  is  evident  that  the  metaphysical  discussion  with 
the  young  people  of  New  Haven,  of  which  Charles 
speaks  in  a  letter  above,  did  not  satisfy  him,  and  we 
find  him  writing  to  one  of  his  circle  a  long  letter  on 
his  position  in  theological  matters. 

To  Miss  Blake. 

Perhaps  Miss  Blake  may  remember  a  conversation 
we  had  a  few  weeks  ago  on  some  theological  ques- 
tions. I  have  thought  of  the  conversation  often, 
and  have  wished  much  to  express  my  views  more 
fully.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  have  an  old  friend 
declare  one's  opinions  "dangerous,"  so  perhaps  you 
will  forgive  the  intrusion,  if  I  give  you  my  reasons 
for  holding  them,  at  some  length,  and  possibly  I 
may  show  you  they  are  not  so  very  "dangerous," 
even  if  they  are  false.  But  I  have  no  right  to  speak 
so  of  holding  certain  opinions.     I  feel  no  sure  grasp 


44  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

of  any  of  them.  I  feel,  as  we  all  must,  uncertain 
on  many  points,  and  anxious  to  reach  the  Truth. 
There  have  been  times,  indeed,  in  which  my  faith 
on  much  more  important  questions  than  we  were 
speaking-  of,  was  all  unsettled.  But  that — I  am 
thankful  —  is  all  past,  and  I  do  not  fear  now  the 
result  of  my  investigations.  Perhaps  my  views  may 
cut  me  off  from  the  sympathy  of  those  I  love  and 
respect  most.  Sometimes  a  shadow  comes  over  me 
of  something  more  terrible.  But  I  cannot  believe 
it;  if  I  know  my  own  heart,  I  am  seeking  for  Truth, 
and  surely  to  such  errors  He  must  be  merciful.  And 
does  not  my  very  writing  this,  Miss  Blake,  show 
that  I  know  you  will  appreciate  my  motives,  and 
that  I  shall  certainly  have  your  agreement,  that  Truth 
is  our  first  object  even  before  Orthodoxy  or  safety? 

I  have  felt  for  many  years  dissatisfied  with  the 
orthodox  theory  of  the  Atone^nent.  There  are  phrases 
in  constant  use,  in  connection  with  it,  which  convey 
but  little  idea  to  my  mind.  I  hear  of  the  "  Majesty 
of  Law,"  the  "Dignity  of  Law  being  j)reserved,"  the 
"  Throne  of  Law,  upholding  its  authority  by  the  suf- 
fering of  the  Lawgiver,"  "  Justice  which  is  satisfied," 
etc.,  etc.  For  my  part,  I  know  of  no  abstract  jus- 
tice to  be  satisfied  or  law  to  be  upheld  under  God. 
I  conceive  of  God  as  a  Being  seeking  the  happiness 
of  His  creation,  and  that  there  is  no  justice  or  rule 
of  law  except  as  tending  to  that.  I  know  of  no 
formal  code  and  penalties  annexed  He  has  given  to 
mankind.  He  has  made  us  with  a  certain  nature, 
in  which  are  fixed  principles.  Holiness  of  heart 
brings  us  happiness,  sin,  misery.  We  may  call 
these  principles  laws  if  we  choose ;  though  I,  for  my 


^T.  21]  THE   ATONEMENT  45 

part,  think  it  a  word  derived  from  the  analogy  of 
human  governments,  and  therefore  inappropriate. 

It  isn't  a  Lawgiver  which  we  find  presented  in  the 
New  Testament,  but  a  Father  seeking  our  happi- 
ness. The  only  abstract  justice  I  can  see,  which 
He  must  uphold,  is  whatever  will  tend  to  the  most 
happiness. 

Then  comes  the  great  question,  "Is  it  necessary 
for  the  happiness  of  the  universe  God  should  suffer 
the  penalty  of  the  guilty,  or  suffer  in  any  sense  in 
which  He  is  a  Substitution  ? "  I  do  not  intend  to 
discuss  this  question  formally,  for  you  must  have 
heard  the  usual  arguments,  pro  and  con,  quite 
enough.  But  I  wish  to  state  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant objections  which  have  occurred  to  my  own 
mind  against  the  orthodox  theory.  In  truth,  I 
never  could  see  why  God  should  not  forgive  freely 
and  fully  on  sincere  repentance.  And  I  venture  to 
suggest  whether  the  orthodox  view  may  not  have 
been  derived  too  much  from  the  analogy  of  human 
governments.  It  does  seem  to  me  the  government 
of  a  State  does  not  present  the  best  type  of  God's 
government  (if  we  may  call  His  influence  a  gov- 
ernment). We  have  no  feeling  of  love,  of  personal 
affection  towards  a  magistrate  or  a  legislature,  and 
that  at  once  brings  in  a  wide  difference  between  the 
two  governments.  Then  again,  no  human  govern- 
ment can  know  of  the  sincerity  of  repentance,  and 
besides  (as  I  think)  human  law  has  concern  with 
nothing  but  overt  actions.  But  the  great  distinc- 
tion is,  that  love  is  not  the  spirit  of  man's  govern- 
ment. Its  hold  on  its  subjects  is  not  through  per- 
sonal love.     Its  operations  must  be  imperfect.     It 


46  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

has  to  execute  to  the  letter  arbitrary  rules;  for  it 
knows  not  the  heart,  and  governs  not  by  affection. 
I  acknowledge  no  human  government  could  pardon 
an  offender  on  mere  repentance,  and  for  the  reason 
stated  above.  Its  very  imperfection  compels  it  to 
adhere  to  the  letter  of  the  law.  But  there  is  a 
government  on  earth  which  much  more  nearly,  in 
my  opinion,  corresponds  to  God's, —  though  even 
here  the  analogy  fails,  but  fails  rather  in  favor  of, 
than  against  my  view, —  I  mean  Family  Giovernment. 
A  father  governs  by  love.  His  will  may  be  all,  for 
a  time,  the  children  know  of  right.  He  does,  to  a 
degree,  know  the  hearts  of  his  subjects,  and  can 
almost  determine  ^vhen  repentance  is  sincere.  He 
tries  to  govern  the  motives  and  disposition,  as  well 
as  overt  action.  Now  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a 
kind,  judicious  father  anywhere  but  would  forgive 
a  child  who  had  done  wrong  if  he  were  only  sure  of 
his  repentance.  Sometimes  a  good  father  may  not 
forgive,  because  he  fears  for  the  sincerity  of  the 
repentance.  But  just  imagine  a  child,  who  had 
disobeyed  most  wickedly  a  positive  command  of  his 
father  to  carry  help  to  a  poor  man.  Imagine  him, 
merely  from  his  agony  of  sorrow,  going  out  of  his 
own  accord  through  a  stormy  night,  over  miles  of 
a  weary  way,  to  give  help  now,  and  finding  it  too 
late.  The  evil  is  done;  the  command  had  been 
broken ;  punishment  had  been  threatened.  Now  do 
you  know  a  Christian  man  with  any  vestige  of  a 
human  heart  in  him,  who  would  have  punished  his 
child  then? 

Why  may  not  God's  government  be  thus  ?     I  know 
it  is  objected  that  such  forgiveness  would  make  the 


iEx.  21]  SIN"   AXD   ITS   EXPTATIOX  47 

threatening  untrue,  which  had  said  "the  sinner 
shall  die."  But  the  same  objection  can  be  made  to 
the  orthodox  theory.  For  nothing  is  said  in  the 
threats  of  the  law  about  a  substitution.  However, 
if  there  is  any  part  of  the  Bible  which  appears  to 
present  the  law  and  its  penalties,  it  is  the  New 
Testament.  The  most  terrible  denunciations  of 
punishment  are  in  Christ's  language;  yet  He  always 
couples  with  them  the  words  of  mercy,  "  Repentance 
and  Faith  shall  save !  "  It  is  objected,  too,  that  men 
would  consider  it  a  very  light  thing  to  sin,  if  escape 
were  so  easy  through  repentance.  But  is  escape 
any  more  difficult  by  the  orthodox  method?  All 
which  the  wrong-doer  (according  to  that')  is  obliged 
to  do,  is  to  believe  in  Christ  and  repent;  that  is, 
to  trust  in  God's  mercy  as  manifested  in  the  Atone- 
ment, and  repent.  Why  is  that  any  more  hard  than 
to  trust  in  God's  mercy  as  manifested  in  Christ,  and 
repent?  I  cannot  see  the  great  difference  as  far  as 
difficulty  is  concerned.  And  why  should  men  look 
on  sin,  even  then,  as  a  light  matter?  Would  they 
not  see  God  had  threatened  wrath  for  ever  and  ever 
on  the  unrepentant,  and  to  make  them  better,  had 
even  descended  to  the  humiliation  and  suffering  of 
an  earthly  life?  There  is  no  appearance  in  that, 
certainly,  of  "thinking  lightly"  of  sin.  And,  after 
all,  can  any  escape  be  more  difficult,  than  through 
sincere  repentance?  Is  there  any  harder  thing  for 
a  human  being  to  do,  than  to  become  pure  and 
changed  in  all  his  motives?  To  be  sure,  a  man 
might  sa}^  "I  will  sin  and  then  repent."  But  he 
could  say  so  under  the  other  theory,  and  any  one 
who  had  even  the  faintest  idea  of  true  repentance, 


48  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

would  see  that  the  probabilities  he  ever  could  repent 
with  such  principles,  were  slight  indeed.  Then 
again,  if  a  man  is  truly  sorry  for  the  past  and 
desirous  of  doing  right  in  the  future,  how  can  God 
punish  him  ?  This  argument  seems  to  me  very  diffi- 
cult to  answer. 

Punishment  under  God's  government  (as  is  gener- 
ally admitted  now)  is  the  natural  consequences  of 
Sin  working  out  in  the  soul, —  remorse,  the  "gnaw- 
ings-back "  of  passions  indulged,  the  pain,  the 
agony  from  a  mind  diseased,  perverted,  out  of 
harmony  with  itself.  Outward  torments  may  be 
added,  but  these  must  be  the  main  sufferings.  Now 
tell  me  how  a  man  who  truly  sorrows  for  the  past, 
and  has  firmly  in  him  the  principle,  the  desire  of 
doing  right,  how  can  he  suffer  any  such  punish- 
ment as  I  have  mentioned  above?  He  may  indeed 
regret  the  widespread  evils  of  his  life.  But  so 
must  every  Christian  who  ever  entered  heaven.  He 
may  feel  unworthy  of  God's  presence.  But  so  should 
every  being  who  has  ever  sinned.  He  may  feel  this, 
but  remorse  he  cannot  feel.  The  pain  of  a  nature, 
all  perverted  to  sin,  he  cannot  feel.  He  may  indeed 
have  misused  the  beautiful  instrument  God  has  given 
him  for  happiness,  it  may  yield  him  but  feebly  the 
pleasure  it  was  intended  to  yield,  yet  it  is  not  now 
an  instrument  of  torture.  Passion  and  selfishness 
are  restrained,  though  they  may  struggle  yet.  It 
may  be  possible  to  torment  him,  but  the  worst  of  all 
torments  is  not  there,  —  a  bad  conscience.  I  see  but 
one  answer  to  this,  which  you  surely  will  not  agree 
to:  that  no  one  who  does  not  hold  to  the  precise 
orthodox    theoretical    view    of    the   atonement  can 


^T.  21]  AUTHORITY   OF   THE   BIBLE  49 

possibly  repent, —  an  argument  I  think  but  few  will 
maintain  at  this  da3^  Many  more  objections  occur 
to  me,  to  the  orthodox  theory  of  the  atonement, 
but  I  fear  to  weary  you  by  this  abstract  discussion, 
and  these  are  enough  to  show  how  my  thoughts  were 
set  working  towards  the  other  view. 

I  would  hasten,  too,  to  what  must  be  the  guide 
and  rule  for  all  our  theorizing, —  the  Bible.  And 
here,  the  more  I  investigate,  the  more  I  am  surprised 
how  much  the  moral  view  (if  I  may  so  call  it)  of 
Christ's  sufferings  is  dwelt  upon,  and  how  little, 
even  apparently,  the  penal  view.  We  —  at  any  rate 
I  —  have  been  so  accustomed  to  read  the  Bible  under 
the  influence  of  our  theology,  that  I  scarcely  dreamt 
a  different  meaning  could  be  attached  to  certain 
passages,  than  was  by  our  sect.  I  need  not  say  that 
to  understand  the  Bible  we  must  know  of  the  origin 
and  formation  of  the  language  used.  We  are  to 
remember,  for  instance,  that  the  New  Testament 
writers  thought  in  Hebrew  and  spoke  in  Greek.  Of 
course,  the  meaning  of  much  of  the  language  is  to 
be  determined  from  the  old  Hebrew  usage.  When 
Christ  is  said  to  "bear  our  sins,"  "to  be  our  Atone- 
ment," "our  Sacrifice,"  these,  of  course,  are  to  be 
explained  from  the  Old  Testament  use  of  the  lan- 
guage. I  suppose  most  interpreters  would  agree  in 
this  thus  far. 

The  main  question  now  comes  up,  "How  those 
expressions  were  used  among  the  Jews  in  the  early 
periods  of  their  histor}^"  I  maintain  that  it  cannot 
be  shown  that  the  rites,  from  which  those  expres- 
sions were  formed,  did  strictly  convey  the  sense  now 
attached.     In  the  ceremonies  of  sacrifice  I  can  see  no 


50  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1847 

appearance  of  substitution  of  penalty.  Nothing  is 
made  of  the  pain  of  the  animal,  which  there  would 
be  if  substituted  suffering  were  the  meaning  in- 
tended. The  goat,  in  one  of  the  most  important 
sacrifices,  is  sent  away  into  the  wilderness, —  most 
plainly  merely  as  an  expressive  figure,  —  and  yet 
there  "atonement"  is  said  to  have  been  made.  In 
other  places  atonements  are  made  by  killing  pig- 
eons, where  no  one  can  suppose  any  substitution 
intended.  The  word  (atonement)  itself  in  the 
Hebrew  conveys  no  necessary  idea  of  substitution, 
for  a  polluted  place  was  frequently  "  atoned  for  "  (i.e. 
purified)  by  a  sacrifice,  and  a  disqualified  Jewish 
citizen  could  be  admitted  to  his  rights  by  an  "atone- 
ment." All  agree  that,  on  condition  of  the  sacri- 
fices, forgiveness  was  granted.  Now  what  more 
natural,  in  a  language  remarkable  for  its  boldness 
and  personifications,  than  to  speak  of  the  sacrifice  as 
"taking  away"  their  sin,  or  "bearing  it"  ?  And  I 
can  produce  an  exact  analogy  which  is  of  great  weight 
on  my  side.  The  "  blood  "  shed  in  the  sacrifice  of 
purification  was  said  to  "purify"  or  "cleanse"  the 
worshipper.  Of  course  the  blood  did  not;  it  was 
merely  the  ceremony  on  condition  of  which  the  im- 
pure was  considered  pure. 

Now,  why  not  apply  the  same  reasoning  precisely 
to  this?  The  animal's  sacrifice  is  merely  the  con- 
dition on  which  the  unrighteous  were  considered 
righteous,  and  not  that  it  "bears,"  in  any  exact 
sense,  the  penalty  of  sin.  It  may  be  asked  what 
the  objects  of  having  a  sacrifice  were.  I  certainly 
can  think  of  many  on  a  rude,  animal  people.  But 
if  it  is  shown  that  substitution  was  not  intendec|. 


JEt.  21]       RESPONSIBILITY   FOR  OPINIONS  51 

among  them,  the  others  need  not  come  under  this 
argument. 

I  leave  the  argument  here,  feeling  I  have  sent 
quite  enough  for  one  reading.  I  see  I  have  reached 
nothing  of  my  own  views,  by  which  I  hoped  to  justify 
myself  with  you.  I  know  not  that  I  could  express 
them  in  any  degree  in  language.  But  to  me,  they 
have  seemed  to  bring  Him  who  is  not  only  the  Eter- 
nal, but  the  ^''Manifest  in  Jlesh,^'  nearer  to  my  heart 
than  ever  before.  And  I  should  be  very  sorry  if  any 
one  whose  opinion  I  really  value  should  think  I  was 
injuring  His  cause  on  earth,  when  I  am  but  aban- 
doning a  philosophical  theory  which  to  me  obscures 
Him.  I  might  apologize,  Miss  Blake,  for  writing 
such  a  letter  to  a  lady,  but  I  cannot  but  think  you 
will  not  expect  it.  Indeed,  it  would  not  be  honest 
in  me  to  do  so,  and  you  know  my  theory.  If  you 
will  allow  me,  I  Avill  trouble  you  with  the  conclu- 
sion of  this  "argument"  at  some  time. 

Later. 

You  will  naturally,  if  you  ever  get  through  such 
a  long,  dry  argument,  ask  what  my  precise  view  of 
the  atonement  is.  I  acknowledge  that  I  do  not  feel 
at  all  confident  of  my  conclusions.  I  know  there 
must  be  depths  of  mysteries  about  such  an  act  we  can 
never  reach.  What  I  reject,  I  reject  with  trembling, 
as  held  by  so  many  I  respect;  not  knowing  but  God 
may  call  me  to  account  for  errors  of  the  intellect,  as 
well  as  of  the  heart.  Still  I  do  feel  —  and  it  seems 
to  me  I  could  meet  that  Being  with  the  assurance  — 
I  have  searched  honestly  for  the  truth.     To  me  the 


52  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

idea  of  vicarious  sufferings  obscures  the  beauty  of 
Christ's  life,  inasmuch  as  I  can  see  no  reason  for 
them,  while  the  view  I  take,  though  not  probably 
covering  the  whole  truth  (and  what  view  could?), 
yet  casts  a  glory  about  Him  and  His  sufferings 
which  no  other  aspect  can.  I  view  Him  as  the  "  God 
manifest  in  flesh";  fulfilling  no  penal  satisfaction, 
honoring  no  abstract  law  by  obedience,  but  simply 
showing  forth  God  to  men.  His  love,  compassion, 
sympathy,  bringing  Himself  before  them  to  win  their 
hearts,  "  reconciling  men  to  Himself. "  I  wish  I  could 
express  in  language,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the 
value  of  this  Truth  to  me.  I  freely  confess  that  the 
God  of  the  Old  Testament  or  of  Nature  I  should 
never  love.  That  was  my  God  once.  An  awful 
mysterious  Being,  the  very  thought  of  whom  was 
crushing  to  the  soul.  I  could  bow  before  His  Eter- 
nity and  Power.  I  lived  in  awe  under  His  shadow, 
but  my  heart  never  went  out  towards  Him.  But 
here  I  find  Him  showing  Himself  through  humanity, 
presenting  to  us  feelings  as  kind  and  delicate  and 
sympathizing  as  we  have  ever  seen  in  the  loveliest 
of  human  characters.  Yes,  how  much  more!  No 
imagination  of  philosophers  has  ever  framed  a  char- 
acter so  imbued  with  kindly,  tender  sympathies,  so 
filled  with  what  we  call  "  Human  Love  "  as  this 
simple  manifestation  of  "Him  who  filleth  Eter- 
nity." 

Infinite,  yet  the  same  who  said,  "  Henceforth  ye  are 
mj  friends!''  What  can  add  to  this?  How  can  an 
obscure  theory  of  substitution  increase  the  moral 
influence  of  such  a  Manifestation  as  this  ?  At  least 
allow  that  this  aspect  of   Christ's    life   can   do  no 


^T.  21]  POLITICAL  QUESTIOXS  63 

"injury,"  even  if  it  does  not  embrace  all  the  truth. 
And  may  we  not  suppose,  as  we  peer  into  the  mys- 
teries of  this  subject,  that  such  a  manifestation  of 
Deity  could  not  be  made  without  humiliation,  and 
thus  suffering?  The  very  "taking  on  Himself  the 
form  of  a  servant"  may  have  been  necessarily  pain, 
and  perhaps  the  highest  reach  of  His  love  was 
seen  in  His  consenting  to  undergo  this  agony  to 
bring  men  to  Himself,  and  the  highest  expression  of 
this  agony  perhaps  in  the  Cross.  Still  these  pains 
—  and  those  of  the  Garden  more  so  —  are  mysteries 
not  entirely  explainable  under  any  theory.  And, 
after  all,  may  we  not  all,  with  whatever  philosophy 
of  Christ's  life  and  sufferings,  clasp  hands  on  one 
great  truth,  that  the  moral  influence  of  that  life 
is  in  what  it  expresses  of  the  mercy  of  God  ?  One 
may  consider  that  mercy  best  expressed  in  dreadful 
sufferings  to  uphold  a  mysterious  justice.  Another, 
simply  in  the  revelation  given  of  the  character  of 
God.  Which  one  in  his  narrow  view  has  taken  in 
the  most  of  truth,  God  only  knows.  May  He  help 
us  to  reach  all  truth ! 

The  correspondence  on  more  general  topics  is 
taken  up  again  in  the  following  extracts  from  letters 
to  Mr.  Kingsbury  written  from  New  Haven  during 
this  winter  and  spring : 

"  What  do  you  think  of  the  news  from  Europe  ? 
Doesn't  it  look  as  if  some  great  convulsion  was  near? 
Perhaps  Europe  splitting  into  the  Liberal  and  the 
Despotic?     May  it  be  in  my  day!     Hurrah  for  re- 


54  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1847 

form!  Free  Trade  almost  established  in  every  arti- 
cle in  English  ports  —  an  approach  towards  it  in 
ours !  Mutual  commerce  uniting  nations  more  than 
a  hundred  treaties!  Human  selfishness  at  length 
doing  what  benevolence  has  never  done,  'making 
wars  to  cease  on  the  face  of  the  earth! '  " 


"...  On  the  whole  I  am  satisfied  I  know  but 
precious  little  on  political  economy  subjects,  though 
I  think  I  have  studied  them  more  than  the  majority 
of  young  men.  I  mean  some  day  to  give  a  good 
deal  of  attention  to  it,  when  I  have  got  a  good  stock 
of  sermons  on  hand  and  the  young  Braces  are  well 
disposed  of.  I  think  the  'Edinburgh  Review'  con- 
tains more  on  that  subject  —  at  least  more  in  advance 
—  than  almost  anything  I  have  seen. 

"  But  in  the  study  line,  I  become  more  and  more 
interested  every  year  in  historical  studies.  I  find 
myself  no  longer  so  much  pleased  with  the  imaginary 
pictures  of  certain  periods,  nor  even  the  ideas  of  his- 
torians, but  I  want  to  look  right  into  them  myself. 
I  gained  that  privilege  particularly  in  'Cromwell's 
Letters,'  etc.,  and  I  know  of  no  period  in  English 
history  on  which  I  was  more  glad  to  be  enlightened. 
I  fear  all  the  while  that  my  views  of  certain  periods 
are  too  much  colored  by  Scott's  (for  instance)  imagi- 
nation. It  seems  as  if  I  wanted  the  naked  truth 
more  and  more.  There  certainly  is  nothing  to  give 
one  such  a  vivid  picture  of  any  times  as  the  way  the 
characters  of  those  periods  think  and  talk  about  them. 
I  am  commencing  on  the  political  history  of  this 
country,  in  which   I  am  particularly  deficient,  and 


^T.21]  1848  STUMP  ORATORY  55 

I  have  begun  it  in  the  same  way,  in  reading  memoirs 
and  biographies. 

"Do  you  read  news  much?  And  if  you  do,  don't 
you  think  poor  Ireland  is  a-catching  it  ?  It  seems 
to  me  the  hardest  problem  going  on  just  now  in  this 
world  is  how  that  country  is  to  be  saved.  Isn't  it 
one  of  the  queerest  things  an  angelic  philosopher 
could  look  upon,  a  human  being  starving  in  the 
midst  of  plenty,  nothing  to  keep  him  from  death  but 
the  shadowy  protection  of  law.  A  human  soul 
shoved  into  eternity,  all  for  want  of  a  mouthful  of 
grain,  when  there's  many  a  waving  field  of  it  open 
to  all.     It  doesn't  seem  as  if  we  could  be  brethren."' 

"April  7,  1848.  New  Haven.  .  .  .  It's  begin- 
ning on  spring,  you  know,  and  with  the  sunlight  and 
grass  and  those  buds  on  the  elms  which  excite  Miss 
Livy  so,  it  is  very  hard  to  stay  indoors.  I  think  of 
you  in  our  walks  and  in  our  contemplated  East  Rock 
trips  and  Pavilion  bowling  with  the  'dames  ' !  Would 
not  you  enjoy  it,  and  wouldn't  it  melt  out  a  little 
of  the  legal  stiffness,  which,  alas!  is  beginning  to 
settle  over  our  once  social  friend. 

"I  have  never  passed  through  such  a  quantity  of 
oratory  in  my  life  as  during  the  last  month.  Quite 
luckily  the  Whigs  took  it  into  their  heads  to  be 
alarmed  about  our  little  State.  So  we  had  Tom 
Corwin  with  his  irresistible  face,  and  a  speech  which 
most  of  us  thought  we  had  never  heard  equalled  on 
such  topics.  Then  came  another  great  stump 
speaker,  Thompson  of  Iowa,  and  Greeley  and  Cassius 
Clay  and  Sam  Houston.       Since   then    Gough  has 


56  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1848 

been  holding  forth  in  the  chapel  and  in  the  city. 
And  still  more,  in  our  churches  we  have  had  some 
most  eloquent  preaching  from  Mr.  Storrs  and  H.  W. 
Beecher  of  Brooklyn;  quite  a  crowd  of  those  men, 
you  see,  who  can  use  that  strange  power  of  eloquence. 
You  may  imagine  Ave  and  the  ladies  have  cultivated 
our  opportunities." 

"June  23,  1848.  New  Haven.  .  .  .  There's  one 
thing  I  observe  in  all  the  fiction  I  have  ever  read: 
how  much  the  writers  exalt  the  spirit  of  generosity 
or  self-sacrifice.  I  suppose  that's  a  trait  of  romance 
from  Charlemagne  downwards.  Isn't  it  one  of  the 
highest  tributes  which  men  give  spontaneously,  to 
the  beauty  of  the  character  religion  would  form,  to 
self-denial?  There's  nothing,  in  my  view,  that 
shows  man's  fitness  for  immortality  like  his  models, 
his  wants. 

"I  have  just  been  reading  a  beautiful  article  in 
the  (April)  'Edinburgh  Review,'  on  Plato.  Do 
get  it  if  possible,  and  if  you  don't  want  to  sit  down 
and  study  that  glorious  mind,  and  if  you  don't 
almost  swear  at  being  such  a  blockhead,  when  the 
treasures  were  around  you,  then  you  are  not  like 
me.  It  comes  over  me  most  gratefully,  now  and 
then,  how  every  clodhopper  noio  has  before  him,  in 
living  form,  that  'perfect  loveliness  of  virtue,'  after 
whose  mere  ideal  Plato  bent  with  such  lono-ing:  all 
his  splendid  imagination.  Doesn't  it  seem  almost 
impossible  such  a  noble,  pure  mind  as  Plato's, 
should  be  tortured  through  Eternity  with  some  we 
know  of? 


^T.  22]  NEGRO  SUFFRAGE  57 

".  .  .  As  I  understand  your  position  in  politics, 
I  like  it.  But,  Fred,  why  won't  you  follow  your 
reason  in  the  Negro  Suffrage  question?  You  must 
have  felt  the  weakness  of  your  arguments,  even  as 
shown  by  your  humble  opponent  last  vacation.  Still 
you  are  one  of  those  that  'wouldn't  serve  God  if  the 
devil  bade  you!'  I  do  most  devoutly  hope  for  a 
knocking  to  j)ieces  of  the  old  parties,  and  as  Bushnell 
says,  'I'll  swing  my  hat  over  the  ruins.'  But  if 
once  a  grand  free-state  party  can  be  formed,  I  shall 
feel  like  being  a  politician.  I  could  fight  then.  If 
I  can  do  something  to  lessen  on  American  soil  that 
curse  of  slavery,  I  shall  be  satisfied.  I  feel  the 
inconsistency,  the  injustice  of  it,  the  longer  I  live. 
...  I  think  God  is  helping  me,  and  if  I  am  once 
in  some  post  of  active  usefulness,  I  shall  be  happy. 
In  fact,  I  am  not  unhappj^  now,  for  the  world  of 
intellect  is  a  great  one,  though  it  don't  compare 
with  the  snug  garden  of  feeling.  .  .  .  We  have  all 
stood  by  one  another  in  the  Play  of  Life,  in  the  little 
annoyances  and  weaknesses  of  youth;  perhaps  we 
shall  not  desert  each  other  when  we  stand  in  the 
front  rank  of  labor,  with  our  characters  more  worthy 
of  hearty  love  than  ever  before.  I  feel  very  grateful 
sometimes  when  I  think  of  your  influence  over  me 
in  former  years.  You  started  me  almost  in  thought, 
and  strange  as  it  may  seem,  even  in  senior  year 
smokes,  your  religious  influence  over  me  was  capi- 
tal. A  sincere  man  always  does  much,  one  way  or 
the  other.  I  feel  often  that  you  and  Dr.  Bushnell, 
and  even  Stewart's  despised  'Mental  Philosophy' 
were  my  teachers, —  more  than  all  the  profs,  and 
pedagogues  I  ever  saw.   ..." 


CHAPTER   III 

From  New  Haven  to  New  York  —  William  Colt's  Death  —  Life  in 
New  York  —  Staten  Island  —  Speculation  and  Discussion  car- 
ried on  there  and  in  New  York  —  Wendell  Phillips  —  Letters  — 
Studies,  and  Blackwell's  Island  —  Emma's  Illness,  and  Visit  to 
Cambridge  —  Emma's  Death  —  Charles's  Agony  of  Grief 

In  September,  1848,  Charles  went  to  New  York. 
It  had  all  along  been  his  intention  to  divide  his 
theological  course  between  New  Haven  and  New 
York,  and  to  support  himself  in  the  latter  place  by 
teaching.  He  was  not  leaving  all  his  friends  in 
New  England,  for  Mr.  Frederick  L.  Olmsted,  a 
Hartford  boy,  and  one  of  his  intimates  in  college, 
had  bought  a  farm  on  Staten  Island,  and  his  brother, 
John  Olmsted,  was  studying  medicine  with  Dr. 
Willard  Parker.  His  first  impressions  of  New  York 
and  of  the  farm  on  Staten  Island,  are  described  in 
the  following  letters  to  Mr.  Kingsbury :  — 

"  I  think  I  should  enjoy  studying  in  New  York  for 
a  year,"  he  says  in  a  letter  of  Sept.  30,  1848,  "but 
not  much  more.  The  novelty  must  wear  away  then. 
But  now  it  is  the  greatest  possible  relief  after  study, 
to  take  a  walk  down  Broadway  and  look  at  the  per- 
fect flood  of  humanity  as  it  sweeps  along.     Faces 

58 


iEx.  22]  DEATH   OF  WILLIAM   COLT  59 

and  coats  of  all  patterns,  bright  eyes,  whiskers,  spec- 
tacles, hats,  bonnets,  caps,  all  hurrying  along  in  the 
most  apparently  inextricable  confusion.  One  would 
think  it  a  grand  gala-day.  And  it's  rather  over- 
powering to  think  of  that  rush  and  whirl  being  their 
regular  every-day  life." 

And  from  New  Milford  he  writes:  — 

"...  My  visit  ^  Avas  one  of  the  j)leasantest  'of 
any  age,'  and  left  a  very  satisfactory  impression 
on  my  mind  of  what  enjoyment  might  be  yet.  Just 
wear  your  feet  out,  Fred,  in  tramping  over  the  hot 
pavements  of  New  York  for  a  day,  and  become  thor- 
oughly stunned  by  the  unceasing  din;  then  let  a 
kind  hobgoblin  transplant  you  to  a  cool  piazza  into 
a  comfortable  armchair  and  slippers,  with  a  quiet 
country  scene  before  you  of  meadows  and  cattle  and 
grain-fields,  and  beyond,  the  blue  waves  and  the 
white  sails,  and,  'some  more  peaches  in  that  basket 
yet,  Charley,'  and  you  will  get  a  faint  idea  of  my 
feelings  on  the  evening  of  Thursday,  Aug.  29,  1848." 

In  October  we  find  him  plunged  in  grief  at  the 
death  of  William  Colt.  William  Colt  was  one  of 
the  Hartford  boys  who  had  been  the  companion  of 
Charles  and  the  Olmsteds  in  boyhood,  their  con- 
stant associate  in  out-door  sports  during  their  school- 
days, one  of  the  set  at  college,  and  later  principal 
of  the  small  school  at  Ellington  where  Charles 
taught.      It   was   the   first  sorrow   that   had    come 

1  To  Mr.  Olmsted's  farm  on  Staten  Island. 


60  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1848 

into  that  little  circle,  and  stirred  them  profoundly. 
He  writes  to  Mr.  Kingsbury :  — 

"This  death  of  William's  affects  me  very  curi- 
ously. I  find  it  so  difficult  to  realize  it,  and  I  am 
constantly  calling  up  remembrances  of  him  which 
are  so  peculiarly  earthy.  Not  unpleasant  memories, 
still  most  unconnected  with  another  life,  and  yet 
not,  in  my  mind,  unsuited  to  the  most  real  view  of 
this  world  or  of  the  next.  It  was  all  so  sudden! 
.  .  .  The  more  I  think  of  his  character,  the  more  I 
put  confidence  in  that  piety  of  his  —  so  almost  spon- 
taneous —  hidden  by  his  humility  even  from  himself, 
and  the  sentimental  part  of  it  mightily  concealed 
from  every  one  else  by  his  most  comical  humor.  Yet 
if  Christian  character  is  to  be  tested  by  the  qualities 
it  shows  and  not  by  what  it  sa^s,  by  the  loveliest 
traits  and  not  by  times  of  extreme  fervor,  or  by 
religious  diaries,  why,  I  think  we  may  hope  much 
for  Bill,  and  may  love  him  all  the  more  that  he  was 
such  a  Christian.  Yet,  Fred,  I  have  not,  and  can- 
not, free  myself  entirely  from  the  sadness  it  has  cast 
over  everything.  He  has  gained  infinitely, —  but 
does  that  affect  my  loss  ?  Still  I  begin  to  feel  the 
pleasant  influences  around  it  all,  and  I  hope  I  shall 
more.  I  never  had  anything  so  loosen  the  founda- 
tions under  my  feet.  It  seemed  as  if  life,  we  build 
such  pleasant  structures  on  for  the  future,  was  glid- 
ing away  from  under  me.  In  fact,  things  look  un- 
certain now  —  perhaps  they  always  will.  Yet  we 
may  all  hope  for  bright  days  yet,  I  suppose.  I 
should  like  much  to  see  you  again.     May  God  spare 


^T.  22]  STATEN  ISLAND  61 

US  to  meet.  ...  I  would  let  you  know  something 
of  my  condition  just  now.  My  room  isn't  just  the 
best,  being  a  basement,  and  a  somewhat  fashionable 
resort  for  up-town  mosquitoes.  Still  it  is  as  good 
as  most  here.  My  boarding-place  has  a  curious  mix- 
ture of  Theologs.  Avho  are  'Brothers,'  and  eat  fast, 
and  music  teachers  who  are  indignant  at  the  prevail- 
ing want  of  taste  in  music,  and  bland  teachers  who 
enunciate  with  grating  distinctness  as  'ri-t-ee-uss- 
ness-ss, '  etc.  I  see  John  [Olmsted],  of  course,  often, 
and  we  walk,  and  spend  a  Sunday  at  Staten  Island 
now  and  then.  ...  I  believe  I  haven't  told  3'ou 
that  I  am  teaching  in  Rutger's  Institute  —  in  Latin 
four  and  one-half  hours  a  week,  and  paid  about  six 
dollars  per  week.  Very  good,  you  see ;  little  inter- 
ruption and  good  pay. 

"...  Since  I  wrote  the  first  part  of  this  I  have 
been  to  Staten  Island  and  spent  the  Sabbath.  A 
wild,  stormy  day,  and  we  spent  it  at  home.  A  sea- 
beach  in  a  storm  is  no  unfit  place  for  worship,  is  it? 
But  the  amount  of  talking  done  upon  that  visit! 
One  steady  stream  from  six  o'clock  Saturday  night 
till  twelve,  beginning  next  day,  and  going  on  till 
about  twelve  the  next  night,  interrupted  only  by 
meals  and  some  insane  walks  on  the  beach!  And 
this  not  like  ours  together,  easy,  discursive,  varied, 
but  a  torrent  of  fierce  argument,  mixed  with  divers 
oaths  on  Fred's  part,  and  abuse  on  both!  How- 
ever, I  must  say  Fred  is  getting  to  argue  with  the 
utmost  keenness, —  a  regular  Dr.  Tajdor  mind  in 
its  analytic  power!  But  what  is  queerest,  never 
able  to  exercise  that  power  except  in  discussion! 
He   is  another  Taylorite   in  his   virtue  theory.       I 


62  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1819 

shouldn't  be  surprised  if  lie  turned  out  something 
rather  remarkable  among  men  yet. 

"...  I  begin  this  year  herewith  fresh  hopes. 
I  must  do  and  be  better.  My  position  is  in  some 
respects  unfortunate.  I  should  like  a  less  easy  life, 
where  there  is  more  of  responsibility  and  strong  in- 
fluence. For  I  think  the  firm  Christian  character  is 
made  best  in  hard  duties.  Still  I  am  here,  and  I  do 
pray  God  to  help  me  in  being  more  earnest  and  un- 
worldly. Why  can  I  never  for  a  moment  approach 
the  ideal  which  is  before  me,  and  which  ought  to  be 
real  to  me?  What  visions  one  does  have  sometimes 
of  being  a  character,  which  shall  leave  its  influence 
on  all  human  history,  for  every  true,  pure-minded 
man  must  have  some  such  power.  How  one  does 
stand  with  angels  in  his  theory  and  imaginations; 
but  the  moment  practical  life  comes,  drop  right  down 
again  with  the  brutes  and  the  sinners!  .  .  .  Will 
you  please  keep  thinking  ?  " 

Of  one  of  his  Sunday  visits  to  Staten  Island,  and 
the  keen  enjoyment  and  inspiration  he  derived  from 
it,  he  writes  again  in  1849. 

To  his  Sister  Emma. 

My  dear  Emma :  Sunday  again  at  the  Island, 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  such  a  beauti- 
ful day!  Since  I  have  learned  to  look  more  on  beauty 
as  an  expression  of  God  to  us,  I  have  explained 
many  of  the  peculiar  feelings  I  have  always  had 
about  it.     That  strange  sadness  —  dreaminess  —  the 


^T.  23]         PHILOSOPHICAL   DISCUSSIONS  63 

pure  effect  it  always  had  on  me, —  for  I  believe  in  the 
strongest  sense  of  the  Infinite,  or  of  some  of  God's 
qualities,  in  the  lines  and  colors  of  nature.  I  took  a 
long  walk  alone  on  the  beach  this  afternoon, —  the 
old  golden  light  on  everything,  with  the  blue, 
dreamy  highlands,  and  the  gray  sky  in  the  east, 
against  which  everything  stood  out  so  beautifully, 
the  sea  sparkling  and  deep  blue,  with  the  same  un- 
ceasing whisper  on  the  beach  —  hush!  hush!  I 
did  enjoy  that  walk.  And  could  not  but  think  of 
Him  who  was  over  it  all,  and  who  looked  through 
all  upon  me.  You,  too,  came  in,  and  my  own  fool- 
ish, imperfect  life,  and  all  I  might  be  and  the  little 
I  was.  So  you  see  I  had  some  meditations.  Did 
you  ever  hear  that  description  of  the  sea  by  a  Greek 
writer  —  or  rather  allusion  to  it  —  "  The  countless 
smile  of  the  waves"?  You  know  that  innumerable 
sparkling,  like  smiling,  —  only  it  seems  all  one  smile. 

It  was  not  only  during  those  animated  Sunday 
visits  that  speculation  was  absorbing  him.  We 
hear  of  great  discussions  carried  on  in  the  small 
literary  coterie  with  which  he  was  becoming  familiar, 
"where  speculation  ran  ramjDant  and  nothing  was 
regarded  as  settled,  and  if  so  regarded,  there  was  all 
the  more  reason  why  it  should  be  unsettled  at 
once."i 

The  following  series  of  letters  to  Mr.  Kingsbury, 
running  through  the  spring  and  early  summer  of 
1849,  are  inserted  together  here  (while  letters  writ- 

1  Extract  from  a  recent  letter  from  Mr.  Kingsbury. 


64  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1849 

ten  earlier  in  the  spring  follow  them),  in  order  to 
place  before  his  readers  at  one  time  the  more  subjec- 
tive side  of  his  correspondence :  — 

To  F.  J.  Kingshury. 

Dear  Fred:  The  religious  "problem"  you  spoke 
of,  rather  oddly  has  been  occupying  our  thoughts 
lately  too,  and  we  have  all  felt  it  one  of  the  most 
difficult.  I'll  say  more  about  it  by  and  by.  But, 
Fred,  do  not  you  feel  afraid  besides  of  this  crowding 
of  life's  business,  in  wearing  off  some  of  our  best 
human  feelings  too,  as  well  as  our  love  for  God? 
Just  look  around  and  see  how  few  men  keep  any  of 
the  warm  or  noble  sentiments  which  they  had  once. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  it  is  peculiarly  so  in  this 
country.  Perhaps  money-making  is  more  entirely 
absorbing.  Who  ever  sees  two  men  of  any  years 
true  friends?  I  don't  believe  we  have  any  idea  how 
long  devotion  to  some  inferior  object  or  how  the 
wear  and  rubbing  of  poverty  may  rub  away  the  best 
and  noblest  imj)ulses  we  have.  Can  a  man  be  an 
earnest,  enthusiastic  worshipper  of  principle  when 
he  finds  it  doesn't  bring  him  in  eighteen  pence  a 
day?  Shall  we  love  and  clasp  men  to  us  when  we 
don't  get  five  minutes  out  of  the  twenty-four  to  kiss 
our  wives?  I  don't  know.  God  thus  far  has  given 
me  nothing  better  than  my  friends.  Can't  I  keep 
them?  Men  have  done  such  things.  We  have  read 
of  men  who  were  not  cold  and  heartless  and  selfish 
because  they  were  old.  Shall  there  be  no  Tim 
Linkin waters  or  Dr.  Arnolds  among  usf     Men  that 


JEt.  23]  "  PUSEYISM   vs.   REASON "  65 

value  hearts  and  principles  rather  more  than  dollars 
and  offices?  I  speak  of  love.  How  little  I  have 
known  of  it  when  put  near  the  visions  which  float 
over  me.  We  dream  of  some  things  which  are  very- 
like  heaven.  Yet  there  is  a  love  to  friends,  to  men, 
which  I  have  in  some  degree,  and  am  having  more 
and  more,  a  confidence  which  cannot  thiiik  of  being 
shaken,  earnest  desire  for  their  happiness,  and  a 
sympathy  which  possibly  is  the  noblest  that  exists, 
for  it  contains  so  little  of  pity  or  dependence  in  it. 
I  can  see  that  this  friendship  I  am  speaking  of  must 
be  founded  alone  on  "the  good  and  true."  We  must 
love  God  more,  and  our  friends  will  love  us.  Mere 
kindness  or  common  pursuits  or  intellectual  S3'mpa- 
thy  cannot  build  up  such  a  friendship  though  they 
may  all  help.  It  must  be  from  each  seeing  the 
other,  striving  after  and  becoming  like  what  is  most 
pure  and  good.  And  I  half  believe  that  the  love  of 
two  manly  hearts  to  one  another,  who  are  struggling 
hard  with  evil,  may  be  even  a  higher  type  of  Love 
than  man's  to  woman.     What  do  you  think  ? 

John  and  I,  you  know,  are  together, —  a  pleasant 
boarding-house.  .  .  .  There's  one  very  pleasant, 
intelligent  fellow  amongst  them.  .  .  .  We  have 
great  talks  and  chesses,  a»id  an  occasional  smoke 
together.  He's  a  full-blooded  Puseyite,  and  does 
support  his  position  most  beautifully.  I  argued 
with  him  about  four  hours  and  a  half  last  Sunday. 
You  have  no  idea  what  a  probable  and  pleasing  sys- 
tem he  makes  of  it.  In  fact,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
we  both  occupy  the  only  two  logical  extremes :  firm, 
almost  infallible  "authority,"  and  pure,  untram- 
melled Reason. 


66  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1849 

May  25,  1849.  I  have  just  been  listening,  F.,  to 
a  touch  of  the  anti-slavery  proceedings,  and  amongst 
the  rest,  to  a  speech  from  Wendell  Phillips.  Did 
you  ever  hear  him  ?  He  is  really  an  eloquent  man. 
I  had  no  idea  they  had  such  polished  and  yet  earn- 
est speakers  among  those  ranters.  He  began  so 
simply,  and  in  just  the  way  to  win  an  American 
audience.  He  asked  them  Avhether  it  was  probable 
men  would  come  together  for  such  a  cause  as  that, 
year  after  year,  injure  their  prospects  in  life,  cut 
themselves  off  from  sympathy,  merely  for  the  sake 
of  speech-making ;  whether  it  might  not  be  possible 
that  the  confusing  effect  of  local  circumstances,  pas- 
sion, and  popular  prejudice,  had  colored  their  view 
of  duty  and  right,  and  whether  it  might  not  be  that 
the  still  voice  of  posterity  would  be  with  the  oppos- 
ers  rather  than  the  supporters  of  slavery.  I  half 
thought  of  writing  you  some  of  the  speech,  for  it 
was  most  thrilling,  some  of  it;  but  I  find  while  the 
splendid  ideas  float  through  my  mind,  the  elegant 
language,  and  those  tones  which  seem  to  go  to  the 
heart,  are  gone  far  away.  The  impression  on  my 
mind  is  of  a  man  philosophical,  theoretic,  and  color- 
ing his  most  abstract  theories  with  a  rich  imagina- 
tion, with  a  high,  noble  devotion  to  what  is  true  and 
right,  and  with  it  all,  the  not  unpleasant  addition 
of  an  agreeable  wit.  His  intellectual  fault,  I  should 
say,  would  be  too  diffuse  an  imagination  for  strength. 
However,  you  may  know  him  already;  if  so,  let  me 
know  whether  your  view  agrees  with  mine.  You'll 
think  me  a  fool,  but  I  must  confess  when  he  told  us, 
in  those  low,  earnest  tones,  of  some  man  who  had 
given  up  property,  reputation,  and  almost  life,  for  a 


^T.  23]  WENDELL  PHILLIPS  67 

poor,  hunted  slave, —  Avhen  he  pictured  out  the  hum- 
ble, unwavering  worship  of  that  abstract  Justice, 
unawed  by  threats  or  pains,  uninfluenced  by  the 
opinion  of  all  one  respects, —  and  as  the  unanimous 
shout  went  up  as  if  from  the  very  heart  of  that  mul- 
titude,—  I  tell  you  I  could  not  keep  the  tears  from 
filling  my  eyes.  There  is  moral  grandeur  in  such 
feelings  as  he  represented,  even  if  false.  Grant  him 
his  one  premise,  "Slavery  is  a  sin  per  se"  and  his 
speech  was  logical  as  Butler.  Down  wdth  the 
church,  down  with  the  Constitution,  with  all  which 
upholds  it !  That  was  his  drift.  I  hope  to  hear  him 
again.  F.,  I  like  to  hear  these  Radicals,  not  because 
they  affect  my  intellectual  opinions,  for  they  do  not 
a  straw,  not  because  I  want  to  be  excited,  either,  but 
because  they  present  one  aspect  of  the  human  mind 
we  cannot  dwell  on  too  much.  No  matter  whether 
their  views  are  true  or  false,  whether  they  them- 
selves on  the  whole  are  honest  or  not,  it  does  show 
for  the  time  real  "cZevotjow  (worship)  to  principle." 
It  seems  to  dispel  for  the  time  the  clouds  of  interest 
and  passion  and  circumstances  which  gather  around 
it  in  every  man's  mind.  You  set  an  idea  of  simple 
following  of  It  —  of  truth  —  goodness  —  through 
all  changes  and  troubles  and  persecution. 

But  what  a  lecture  I  am  reading  you!  Still  my 
letter  is  most  like  myself.  You  can  almost  imagine 
yourself  in  cigar-cloud,  with  feet  on  table  under  one 
of  my  metaphysical  dissections,  intently  regarding 
the  bottom  of  your  ale-tumbler,  and  wondering 
"  What  the  deuce  he  does  mean  ?  " 


68  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1849 

June  25,  1849.  It  is  Sunday,  on  Staten  Island, 
and  I  have  no  reason  to  think  it  otherwise  with  you. 
But  Sunday  here  must  mean  considerably  different 
from  one  at  Waterbury.  It  does  not  mean,  I  am 
almost  sorry  to  say,  much  going  to  church,  yet  per- 
haps something  better.  We  do  not  sweat  all  day  in 
a  hot  building,  criticising  dishonest  or  stupid  essays, 
but  we  look  out  on  the  peaceful  sea  and  the  solemn 
stretch  of  its  waves,  way  on  to  the  misty  horizon, 
and  perhaps  nothing  could  so  remind  us  of  Him,  its 
Maker.  We  ramble  in  the  wood  paths  and  listen  to 
the  happy  hum  of  insect  life,  and  gaze  up  through 
the  graceful  tracery  on  that  almost  fathomless  blue 
3^ou  see  these  beautiful  summer  days,  and  perhaps 
no  church  is  so  solemn  as  those  old  oak  arches.  In 
fact,  do  you  not  think  summer  is  a  solemn  season? 
The  very  abundance  of  life,  the  skies,  and  the  beau- 
ties seem  to  carry  one's  mind  away  to  the  Infinite, 
and  the  being  who  is  the  source,  or  I  might  say  the 
substance,  of  this  beauty  and  life.  Then  perhaps 
no  day  in  the  year  is  more  intellectual  than  this 
Sunday  of  ours.  There  is  earnest  talk  all  day  long 
on  the  great  problems  of  life  and  eternity;  not 
flippant  discussion,  or  prize  matches  between  intel- 
lects, but,  as  I  do  believe,  a  serious  and  rational 
investigation.  Perhaps  there  is  less  of  a  pleasing 
Christian  S5^mpathy  —  an  almost  tender  union  of 
feeling  on  the  great  Truths  of  Religion  —  than  we 
might  desire.  It  is  possible  no  true  man  has  that 
often,  or  can.  But  there  certainly  is  a  sympathy, 
way  down  in,  perhaps  all  the  more  effective  that  it 
is  earnest  and  repellent  and  not  to  be  expressed  by 
sentimentalizing.     And  I  do  hope  we  all  of  us  have 


^T.  23]  RELIGIOUS  DOUBTS  69 

that,  in  our  earnestness  for  what  is  good  and  true, 
even  if  Ave  never  show  it  otherwise  than  by  the  hard- 
est discussion. 

I  am  grateful  for  the  good  I  get  from  such  as  you 
and  the  rest.  And  yet  I  sometimes  think  it  might 
be  better  for  me  to  be  entirely  separated  from  you 
all  for  a  while.  We  all  —  every  human  being  —  are 
prone  to  be  one-sided^  and  we  never  think  of  it  at 
the  time.  I  fear  I  am  getting  in  the  habit  of  look- 
ing on  others  as  interested  in  and  influenced  by  the 
same  truths  as  we  are.  I  may  deal  with  humanity 
as  intellect-creatures  too  much ;  I  may  be  flying  or 
descending  too  far  from  them.  And  then,  too,  un- 
pleasant fears  come  over  me,  that  my  piety,  as  it 
frees  itself  from  common  supports,  may  be  sinking 
down.  Perhaps  as  I  take  such  free  flights,  it  may 
be  the  intellect  that  is  soaring,  and  the  simple,  lov- 
ing heart  may  be  grovelling  still.  And  altogether  I 
might  ask  —  though  I  do  not  —  Charles  Lamb's  ques- 
tion to  Coleridge,  "  Whether  an  immortal  and  amena- 
ble spirit  may  not  come  to  be  damned  at  last,  and 
the  man  never  suspect  it  beforehand?  "  No,  it  would 
be  dishonest  to  say  I  felt  that.  I  do  know  God  will 
be  merciful.  My  doubts,  if  any,  are  whether  He 
may  not  be  more  merciful  than  we  anticipate.  But 
I  do  have  gloomy  moments  when  I  consider  my  influ- 
ence. And  yet  I  know  that  though  in  great  weak- 
ness and  against  the  habits  of  years,  I  am  striving 
after  perfect  truth  more  and  more.  I  can  be  true 
in  thought  possibly  easier  than  many,  and  I  believe 
even  against  much  reproach  and  want  of  sympathy. 
But  truth  in  slioht  thino-s,  and  all  the  while,  is  far 
harder,  I  suppose,  for  all ;  at  any  rate,  for  me.     I 


70  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1849 

cLink,  too,  I  love  human  happiness  more  than  I  ever 
did  before,  and  yet  my  efforts  to  increase  it  must  be 
different  (from  my  natural  constitution)  from  those 
of  many.  However,  may  God  help  me.  "Talking" 
on  ecstatic  emotions  can  never  make  us  what  we 
would  be.  As  Carlyle  says,  "  Know  thyself  "  should 
be  changed  to  "Kuow  thy  work!"  and  I  have  less 
inclination  than  ever  to  talk  of  those  things,  though 
I  like  occasionally  to  analyze  them  from  my  own 
mind.  Still,  telling  them  to  one  who  knows  us 
well  may  do  both  good,  always  remembering  that 
expression  conveys  too  much  or  too  little  of  what- 
ever it  would  represent. 

In  the  spring  of  1849,  Charles's  father  decided  to 
give  up  school-teaching,  and  subsequently  took  the 
editorship  of  the  Hartford  "Courant."  Of  this  and 
other  matters  Charles  writes  the  following  letters :  — 

To  his  Father. 

My  dear  Father ;  .  .  .  I  am  very  glad  you  are  to 
have  change  of  occupation,  and  are  to  see  your  old 
friends.  It  will  do  you  good.  But  oh,  father!  do 
be  careful  about  getting  in  among  the  mere  politi- 
cians as  a  mere  party-instrument.  It  would  be  a 
heavier  blow  to  me  than  the  beggary  or  death  of 
friends  to  think  of  a  life  of  usefulness  and  honor  such 
as  yours  has  been,  closing  off  in  hunting  for  office. 
We  had  better,  all  of  us,  for  our  own  self-respect  and 
God's  respect,  too,  be  digging  potatoes  for  a  living 
than  hanging  on  the  skirts  of  a  party  for  an  office ! 


iEx.  23]  INTEREST  IN  TEACHING  71 

Do  write  me  often,  and  tell  me  all  your  prospects 
and  plans.  You  know  that  I  cannot  speak  of  my 
love  towards  you  or  my  feelings  for  your  situation ; 
—  language  does  not  represent  them.  God  will  yet 
make  us  all  happy.  It  may  not  be  in  this  world 
perliaps,  but  Eternity!  Is  it  not  near  us?  May 
God  grant  you  means  of  being  useful  again  soon ! 

April  11,  1849.  ...  I  am  right  glad  to  hear  of 
your  having  recruited  health  and  spirits  so  well,  and 
on  the  whole,  perhaps  this  unsettledness  for  a  time 
may  be  a  capital  thing  for  you.  I  shall  not  regret 
it,  if  it  lead  you  around  among  the  men  your  educa- 
tion and  position  fit  you  more  to  associate  with.  I 
myself  am  pleasantly  situated  and  am  working  well. 
My  teaching  is  delightful,  classes  bright,  and  the 
books  interesting,  and  some  opportunities  opening, 
I  hope,  for  the  influence  to  which  all  my  teaching 
must  only  be  a  means.  My  plans  urge  towards  the 
pulpit  more  and  more.  I  only  wait  to  see  where  I 
shall  certainly  be  most  useful,  and  to  carry  on  well 
my  training.  I  must  give  my  life  to  make  men 
happy  —  in  weakness  and  worldliness  perhaps  —  but 
still,  such  as  I  am.  Wherever  I  shall  be,  teacher  or 
preacher,  the  brightest  of  all  visions  before  me  is  a 
humble,  self-controlled  life,  all  devoted,  given  up, 
to  working  for  human  happiness.  But  it  is  very 
easy  to  dream.     May  God  help  me  to  do  ! 

I  see  you  are  rather  whipped  in  Connecticut.  I 
do  not  sympathize  in  the  least  with  the  miserable 
coalition.  Still  I  do  know  that  the  Whigs  have 
never  taken  the  high  "principle-stand"  on  slavery 


72  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [lUd 

which  Massachusetts,  for  instance,  has,  and  I  think 
the  punishment  may  be  this,  though  the  devil  do 
inflict  it.  I  am  glad,  from  my  soul,  to  see  the  ten- 
dency of  the  country  so  towards  freedom.  I  do  not 
wish  to  rant.  But  it  is  the  deepest  feeling  of  my 
heart,  that  no  darker  stain  rests  on  this  country 
than  this  slavery.  Men  must  see  it  sometime.  Do 
you  remember  Sydney  Smith's  indignant  passage  on 
the  "  boasts  of  that  land,  of  its  freedom,  where  every 
fifth  man  is  a  slave  "  ?  But  here  I  am  running  off 
into  a  political  letter  the  first  thing. 

...  I  am  working  on  much  as  usual,  enjoying 
my  teaching  and  my  study.  ...  I  find  myself,  as 
I  notice  the  growth  of  my  pupils'  characters,  going 
back  a  great  deal  and  calling  up  my  own  early  edu- 
cation. I  think  in  some  respects  my  power  must 
have  been  very  early  developed,  and  your  historical 
teaching  probably  started  me  quicker.  How  much 
you  must  have  labored  with  me !  If  gratitude  could 
be  talked  about,  I  might  express  myself.  But  it  is 
very  singular,  considering  how  much  I  was  under 
your  influence,  how  very  different  our  minds  are! 
I  do  not  think  two  more  different  minds  could  be 
found,  taking  men  generally  anywhere,  of  anything 
like  the  same  education.  You  like  arrangement; 
you  remember  facts ;  you  can  have  a  very  thorough 
knowledge  of  scientific  facts ;  you  enjoy  particulariz- 
ing. You  have  a  vast  manifold  memory ;  you  have 
the  faculty  of  rhythms ;  you  can  explain  with  great 
ease ;  method,  order,  systematizing,  please  you.  To 
all  this,  in  every  particular,  I  am  almost  the  con- 


JEt.  23]         INSUSCEPTIBILITY  TO   FEAR  7d 

trary,  as  you  well  know.  I  am  not  sure,  however, 
but  a  different  education  or  set  of  circumstances 
would  have  made  you  very  different.  For  you  have 
a  taste  in  some  things  for  generalizing.  But  I  am 
certain  no  education  would  have  made  me  love  order 
or  particularizing,  though  I  might  have  become  very 
orderly.  I  should  not  wonder  if  my  early  sickness 
gave  a  reflective,  serious  cast  to  my  mind  which  it 
certainly  seems  to  me  to  possess.  I  never  should 
make  a  scientific  man,  as  they  are  generally  under- 
stood to  be.  And  it  would  be  rather  difficult,  with 
a,ll  my  constant  training  on  that,  to  make  a  scholar  of 
me.  However,  I  could  be  that,  but  I  mean  my  taste 
wouldn't  be  most  for  it.  .  .  .  But  in  one  thing, 
with  all  our  mental  differences,  our  family  are  very 
much  alike,  in  those  hidden  influences  which  seem 
to  come  from  bodily  constitution,  in  the  emotions, 
etc.,  which  perhaps  come  from  temperament;  the 
same  peculiar  sensitiveness, —  suspicion  almost, — 
keen  sensibilities  on  certain  subjects,  and  perhaps 
a  sort  of  want  of  self-confidence. 

I  see  you  still  consider  me  rather  foolhardy.  It 
isn't  so  much  from  a  reckless  desire  of  exposing 
myself  that  I  am  apt  to  act  so,  as  from  a  want  of 
feeling  that  they  are  dangers.  I  have  to  use  my 
reason  almost  always,  to  convince  me  I  ought  to  flee 
from  danger.  I  am  not  naturally  susceptible  to  fear. 
Now,  that  night,  I  did  not  once  think  of  danger  from 
the  riot.  However,  I  shall  not  risk  my  life  ever 
from  mere  bravado,  you  may  be  assured.  But  per- 
haps my  best  excuse  will  be  that  this  same  insensi- 


74  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1849 

bility  stands  by  me  when  I  can  be  of  real  service  to 
others  by  exposing  myself.  For  instance,  since  I 
wrote  the  first  part  of  this,  I  have  watched  over  the 
death-struggles  of  a  man  in  the  cholera.  I  had  been 
ill ;  I  was  weak,  too.  But  —  and  I  am  conscious  of 
not  saying  it  merely  from  vanity  —  I  went  over  with- 
out a  thought  of  danger,  and  was  glad  to  soften  in 
any  degree  the  last  agonies  of  a  fellow-being.  And 
I  would  do  it  again,  even  when  I  feared  contagion 
more  than  in  this  disease.  Well,  enough  of  this 
self-defense!  .  .   . 

But  I  was  very  glad  to  do  my  little  to  relieve 
his  pain,  and  I  felt  it  was  the  first  of  those  poor 
efforts  I  should  be  glad  to  lay  at  the  feet  of  Christ 
for  a  life  —  yes,  for  an  Eternity.  To  make  others 
happy  —  is  not  that  the  highest  religion?  And  not 
by  such  special  efforts  nearly  as  much  as  through 
poor,  unknown,  every-day  life. 

The  following  letter  from  his  father  is  in  answer 
to  his  analysis  of  the  difference  in  their  charac- 
ters :  — 

"I  think  your  remarks  respecting  our  characters 
is  just,"  Mr.  Brace  says.  "There  is  undoubtedly 
some  difference  in  our  temperaments,  but  the  great 
difference  you  stated  is  more  owing  to  education  than 
any  other  cause.  One  of  the  great  sources  of  the 
want  of  fear  or  the  realization  of  danger  is  the  early 
knowledge  of  the  possession  of  physical  strength. 
You  had  this  quite  early,  and  I  was  always  laboring 
under  the  knowledge  of  comparative  weakness,  and 


^T.  23]      VISITS  TO  BLACKWELL'S  ISLAND  75 

knew  that  in  all  contests  with  my  companions  I 
should  come  off  defeated;  hence  I  avoided  quarrels, 
and  produced  a  propensity  to  peace.  Knowing  like- 
wise the  defects  in  my  early  education,  that  made 
me  timid  under  physical  danger,  I  took  a  different 
course  with  you.  Very  early  I  exposed  you  to  dan- 
ger, urged  you  to  climb,  to  swim,  to  do  many  things 
that  many  parents  thought  wrong  and  dangerous,  for 
the  very  purpose  of  so  familiarizing  you  to  danger 
that  you  should  be  superior  to  fear.  Do  you  remem- 
ber in  Litchfield  my  keeping  you  near  the  cannon 
when  firing  on  review  day,  until  you  nearly  fainted, 
and  I  had  to  take  you  into  Mr.  Deming's  house? 
Your  early  sickness  made  you  reflective.  It  like- 
wise produced  a  physical  effect  upon  your  stomach, 
which  has  again  operated  on  your  character.  I  hope 
I  have  done  my  duty  by  all  my  children,  and  that, 
in  after  life,  my  memory  will  be  pleasant  to  them." 

The  winter  of  18-19-50  opens  for  Charles  with 
fresh  enthusiasm  and  new  interests,  as  he  begins  the 
life  for  which  his  longing  has  been  growing  increas- 
ingly strong, —  that  amongst  the  unfortunate  in  the 
great  city.  This  in  the  form  of  visits  to  Black- 
well's  Island,  occupied  many  of  his  Sundays.  We 
have  a  few  letters  which  tell  of  the  closing  months 

of  1849. 

To  his  Father. 

New  York,  Oct.  31,  1849. 
Dear  Father:  I  had  one  of  the  most  exciting  and 
interesting  days  I  ever  spent,  last  Sunday,  on  Black- 


76  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1849 

well's  Island.  I  preached  without  notes  in  the 
Aims-House  Chapel  to  the  paupers  in  the  morning, 
and  talked,  etc.,  with  the  prisoners  and  hospital  pa- 
tients in  the  afternoon,  besides  seeing  a  little  of  the 
insane.  I  never  had  my  whole  nature  so  stirred  up 
within  me,  as  at  what  met  my  eyes  in  those  hos- 
pital wards.  Standing  in  a  long  room,  with  beds 
on  each  side,  and  speaking  to  the  poor  creatures  as 
they  lay  there.  They  are  nearly  all,  you  know, 
diseased  prostitutes,  brought  there  mostly  to  die. 
Though  some  do  recover.  If  a  man  could  ever  speak 
of  the  realities  he  believed,  or  of  the  love  of  Jesas 
to  the  guilty,  'twould  be  there.  Ghastly  faces  peer- 
ing from  bandages  around  3'ou,  and  others  all  fester- 
ing with  disease,  or  worn  and  seamed  with  passion, 
and  some  where  pure,  kind  expressions  must  have 
dwelt  once.  You  felt  you  were  standing  among  the 
wrecks  of  the  Soul;  creatures  cast  out  from  every- 
thing but  God's  mercy.  Oh!  'twas  the  saddest, 
most  hopeless  sight.  Some  were  young  and  delicate 
looking,  seduced  and  deserted.  God  help  them !  I 
had  a  long  day's  work. 

But,  after  all,  the  inefficiency  of  religion  doesn't 
strike  me  so  much  in  such  places  as  in  what  I  see 
every  day,  and  what  I  realize  constantly  of  our  New 
England  religion.  It's  affecting  so  sadly  little  any 
of  our  practical  business  relations ;  so  seldom  mak- 
ing a  merchant  exactly  honest,  so  seldom  inspiring 
men  with  genial  kindness  and  charity  towards  one 
another;  no,  never,  hardly,  entering  the  least  in  a 
politician's  duties,  or  influencing  his  operations. 
There's  so  much  of  the  dogma, —  Calvin  piety, — 
and  so  little  which  makes  men  better  men.     I  am 


JEt.  23]  FORMAL   CHRISTIANITY  77 

almost  hopeless  sometimes,  and  I  fully  believe  that 
New  England  piety,  if  it  doesn't  change  very  con- 
siderably soon,  will,  in  the  course  of  two  or  three 
generations,  run  out.  This  may  sound  extravagant. 
But  do  think  of  it.  No  man  trusts  here  a  church 
member,  any  sooner  than  any  other.  Religion  is 
never  in  the  least  connected  with  political  measures. 
We  have  such  a  formal  idea  of  Christianit}', —  that 
missionary-giving  and  prayer-meeting  and  Bible- 
reading  and  revivals  are  religion.  See  how  utterly 
selfish  our  best  churchmen  are.  I  certainly  can  see 
very  little  in  which  piety  affects  social  relations  in 
New  England  or  here,  except  in  keeping  from  the 
worst  crimes;  Avhich  isn't  much.  Roman  Law  did 
that.     But  this'll  do.     I  should  like  your  views. 

And  in  describing  a  similar  experience  he  writes 
Mr.  Kingsbury:  — 

"...  There  was  a  beautiful  face  amongst  them, 
voluptuous,  but  really  with  a  very  fine  expression. 
She  had  seen  better  days,  I  suspect,  than  most  of 
them,  and  seemed  to  look  on  almost  proudly  as  we 
spoke.  But  as  we  —  no,  I  —  alluded  to  old  friends, 
and  the  home  and  the  love  which  they  had  once,  and 
the  kind  hearts  which  had  been  around  them  in  old 
days,  and  then  told  them  in  the  simplest,  most 
untechnical  words  I  could  use,  of  the  Friendship 
they  might  have  in  Jesus,  and  His  love  to  them,  she 
could  not  refrain  her  tears,  as  I  hardly  could  mine. 
Oh,  what  a  gleam  they  gave  for  a  moment  on  that 
life  of  pain  and  sin  and  remorse  she  had  had!     God 


78  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1849 

help  her!  It's  as  near  hopeless  as  can  be  for  the 
prostitute  to  reform.  This  has  called  my  notice  to 
the  way  Christ  generally  treated  the  prostitutes,  and 
you  will  be  surprised  at  seeing  how  many  he  asso- 
ciated with,  taking  the  brief  narrative  into  view. 
Do  you  remember  that  one  who  came  when  he  was 
dining  at  the  rich  orthodox  moral  deacon's,  and  in 
her  agony  of  shame  and  sorrow  wept  over  his  feet, 
and  the  comparison  he  draws  between  her  and  the 
deacon,  much  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  latter? 
Isn't  that  Divine  mercy,  'Behold  all  her  sins  are  for- 
given her,  for  she  loved  much! '  " 


To  the  Same. 

Monday  Eve,  November,  1849. 
My  dear  Fred :  .  .  .  For  myself,  I  feel  but  little 
confidence  I  shall  awake  new  life  in  any  other  way, 
than  by  slow  influence  of  myself.  Perhaps  I  cannot 
reach  it  the  least  by  talking.  Talking  isn't  much. 
But  if  I  can  have  what  I  struggle  always  after, —  a 
life  imbued  with  truth  and  independence, —  I  cannot 
help  doing  something.  I  am  more  and  more  deter- 
mined to  be  true  to  myself.  It's  a  most  complicated 
chain  around  you,  this  of  custom  and  "what-we- 
always-have-been-educated-to-believe."  Who  ever 
is  honest?  Well,  I  will  try  hard,  and  leave  it  to 
God  where  I  come  out.  It  certainly  will  not  be, 
I  think,  among  what  have  been  "our  Creed." 
There's  a  niche  anyhow  in  this  country  for  almost 
every  man  who  has  any  stuff  in  him.  And  if  I  can 
once  start,  freed  from  every  possible  taint  of  hum- 


iET.  23]       HIS   SISTER'S  FAILING  HEALTH  79 

bug,  cant,  bigotry,  mere  custom,  true  in  myself  as 
well  as  my  opinions,  and  if  I  can  feel  to  my  very 
heart  the  love  for  humanity,  of  which  I  see  a  faint 
spark  now  within  me,  why!  cannot  I  do  something? 
But  if  not,  if  circumstances  gag  me  utterly,  and  men 
drop  me  on  one  side  as  an  excited  young  man  who 
sha'n't  have  "our  subscriptions,"  well,  I  believe  I 
can  serve  God  by  suffering.  For  I  am  assured  truth 
cannot  be  laughed  or  starved  down. 

But  a  shadow  had  been  hanging  over  his  life  for 
some  months  before  the  period  to  which  we  have 
come  in  his  correspondence,  and  we  must  go  back 
and  tell  of  the  failing  health  of  his  beloved  sister. 
In  the  spring  of  1849,  during  her  life  in  the  South, 
which  promised  so  well,  she  exposed  herself  in  some 
way,  and  took  a  serious  cold  which  almost  immedi- 
ately developed  into  a  threatening  of  consumption. 
She  came  back  and  went  direct  to  the  home  of  the 
kind  old  aunts  in  Litchfield,  who  cared  for  her  most 
devotedly.  Charles  was  there  to  welcome  her,  and 
in  two  letters  of  which  extracts  are  given,  tells  of 
his  hopes  and  forebodings. 

To  his  Father. 

[Litchfield],  "Wed.,  July  18th. 

Mr/  dear  Father :  Emma  came  to-day.  She  is  much 
better  than  she  was  at  the  South.  ...  I  think  this 
air  will  benefit  her,  and  Aunt  Mary's  kind  care.     If 


80  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

she  will  only  be  prudent,  and  I  think  she  will.  She 
is  cheerful,  yet  looking  at  things  as  they  are.  We 
may  have  hope,  and  yet  we  must  be  ready  for  the 
worst.  Let  us  leave  her  in  God's  hands.  My  heart 
is  almost  crushed  sometimes  as  I  think  of  her,  and 
yet  I  see  that  God  is  never  more  truly  kind  than  in 
such  trials.  May  it  make  us  more  truly  earnest  for 
duty.  On  the  whole,  there  is  reason  to  hope  yet 
strongly,  I  think,  in  her  vigorous  constitution. 
May  God  prepare  us  all  for  our  sorrows  here  and  for 
serving  Him.  .  .  .  Aunt  Mary  watches  over  Emma 
with  the  most  unwearied  care,  and  pure  air  and  exer- 
cise may  recruit  her.  The  week  I  passed  with  her 
was  inexpressibly  sad  to  me.  And  yet  I  will  not 
let  it  now  make  me  at  all  gloomy.  I  struggle  for 
more  confidence  in  God  —  more  resignation.  It  isn't 
that  I  look  to  other  friends,  that  I  can  bear  her  situ- 
ation cheerfully,  but  I  look  to  labors  for  human  hap- 
piness, for  God.  My  future,  as  I  draw  it,  has  not 
for  some  time  been  one  of  happiness.  I  do  intensely 
long  to  give  every  effort  and  thought  to  the  good  of 
men,  to  truth. 

Throughout  the  autumn  his  sister  Emma  grew 
rapidly  worse.  It  was  thought  that  a  visit  to  her 
kind  and  devoted  cousins,  Dr.  Asa  and  Mrs.  Gray 
in  Cambridge,  might  benefit  her,  so  in  January, 
1850,  she  went  to  them  and  stayed  until  her  death. 
The  following  letter  written  by  Charles  to  his  father 
foreshadows  the  end  which  was  to  follow  a  month 
later : — 


iET.  24]  HOPE   ABANDONED  81 

To  his  Father. 

Jan.  18,  1850,  New  York. 
Ml/  dear  Father:  ...  I  had  a  letter  this  morn- 
ing from  Jane  [Mrs.  Gray],  which  I  enclose.  Bad 
news.  If  tubercles  are  really  formed,  she  is  very 
low,  and  we  can  have  but  few  hopes.  If  not,  she 
may  be  but  little  worse  than  when  she  left  Hartford. 
Still,  why  do  I  write  ?  I  have  no  hope  scarcely,  and 
have  not  had  for  some  time.  I  do  not  dare  look  at 
my  own  feelings.  It  has  come.  I  must  look  at  it  as 
God's  doing.  I  believe  I  can.  I  do  from  my  soul 
acknowledge  His  infinite  kindness.  He  is  kind  here. 
This,  with  all  the  other  heavy  blows  which  fall  upon 
us  here,  I  know  are  fitting  us  for  something  far  bet- 
ter; and  it  will  do  us  good.  It  Avill  make  us  more 
earnest  in  life.  The  "outside  "  and  the  passion  and 
the  selfishness  shall  not  reach  us  so  much  after  this. 
We  shall  be  nearer  Him.  Of  course  it  is  somethinor 
I  can  never  recover  from.  But  yet  I  am  willing  to 
meet  it;  yes,  I  can  leave  myself  with  Him,  if  it  will 
only  make  me  live  more  for  Eternity.  It  is  hardest 
on  you,  and  there  are  many  things  hard  upon  you, 
but  why  can  it  not  also  bring  you  nearer  God  ?  I 
needn't  say  how  I  feel  for  you  —  God  help  you !  We 
will  bow  under  it,  and  then,  with  simple  love  for 
Him,  we  will  go  again  into  the  stern  duties  around 
us.  And  we  shall  do  them  more  thoroughly  then, 
more  in  the  sight  of  the  Eternal  One.  Your  edito- 
rials will  be  more  in  view  of  truth  and  right,  more 
earnest  for  what  is  really  good,  whether  it  is  in  poli- 
tics or  anything  else.     I  shall  live  better,  and  under 


82  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1850 

the  long  shadows  over  me,  I  think  I  can  still  trust 
in  Him  throughout. 

These  words  do  not  express  me.  Why  should  I 
talk?  May  God  help  me,  and  bless  you!  I  wrote 
to  her  this  morning,  and  think  I  did  not  let  my  feel- 
ings carry  me  away  so  as  to  pain  her.  Write  lov- 
ingly, father,  and  with  what  trust  in  Him  you  have ; 
but  I  would  not  show  her  too  much  your  sorrow. 

Two  days  before  his  sister's  death,  Charles  writes 
to  her  as  follows :  — 

To  his  Sister  Emma. 

New  Yokk,  Winter,  1850.  [Feb.  15tli.] 
My  dear  Emma:  Isn't  this  a  wonderful  winter? 
We  have  hardly  had  any  here,  it  is  so  mild  and  clear. 
And  then  when  it  is  cold  you  would  hardly  know  it, 
the  sun  is  so  bright.  I  think,  after  all,  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  beauty  in  winter,  esiDccially  when  there's 
snow  over  everything.  The  sky  is  uncommonly 
beautiful  this  season  with  us,  and  we  have  towards 
night  a  peculiar  cold  gray  tint  which  I  have  not 
often  seen  described.  Have  you  ever  noticed  the 
effect  produced  this  season  of  the  year  by  the  after- 
noon sunlight  tingeing  a  cloud  of  steam,  the  most 
delicate,  fading  away,not-to-be-looked-at  purple  color, 
you  ever  could  see.  Try  it.  New  York  is  whirling 
on  as  usual.  You  can  have  no  idea,  Emma,  what  an 
immense  vat  of  misery  and  crime  and  filth  much  of 
this  great  city  is!  I  realize  it  more  and  more. 
Think  of  ten  thousand  children  growing  up  almost 


tEt.  24]  LETTER   TO   HIS   SISTER  83 

sure  to  be  prostitutes  aud  rogues!  I  have  been 
very  busy  all  this  winter  studying  and  writing,  for 
I  am  beginning  on  sermons.  ...  I  rec'd  your 
letter  yesterday.  'Twas  a  day  I  shall  not  soon 
forget, —  St.  Valentine's, —  yet  rather  different  from 
some  I  have  had.  A  wild  storm  beating  outside, 
chimneys  hardly  visible  through  the  driving  rain; 
not  a  dull  kind  of  day  to  me.  ...  I  found  your 
letter  in  the  afternoon ;  inexpressibly  sad  to  me,  and 
yet  I  felt  you  never  showed  your  love  to  me  better 
than  in  bringing  out  before  me  your  struggles  and 
sorrows.  The  announcement  of  John's  ^  engagement 
was  all  new  to  me.  ...  I  felt  very  happy  at  that, 
though  the  contrast  came  so  sadly  over  me  how  he 
was  gaining  a  friend  for  life,  while  perhaps  I  was 
losing  the  one  I  loved  best,  and  I  couldn't  but  put 
myself  years  on  in  life,  when  his  memories  would  go 
back  so  pleasantly  to  this  sunniest  spot  of  his  days, 
while,  maybe,  mine  would  rest  on  it  so  painfully 
and  sadly.  What  a  compound  mixture  is  making 
up  here,  all  the  while,  of  tears  and  laughs,  marrying 
and  sorrowing.  But  God  bless  them  both!  .  .  . 
Emma,  I  say  first  and  strongest  to  you,  Pray  !  pray  ! 
Pray  from  the  heart  to  God  for  a  better  spirit.  I  do 
not  doubt  for  a  moment  His  answer.  Pray  as  if  your 
life  depended  on  it.  The  truth  is,  I  have  a  very 
great  confidence  indeed  in  the  kindness  of  God  toward 
us.  I  do  believe  if  we  shall  find  ourselves  mistaken 
on  either  side  in  Eternity,  it  will  be  in  finding  God 
more  merciful  than  we  expected.  ...  I  think  your 
past  life,  imperfect  as  it  has  been,  showed  you  were 

1  John  Olmsted. 


84  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

actuated  by  real  love  of  God.  But  whether  you 
were  or  not,  you  can  be  now.  Leave  all  technical 
phrases,  and  doctrines;  bring  before  your  inmost 
soul  the  awful  unspeakable  Being,  into  whose  close 
knowledge  you  may  soon  enter.  Then  when  you 
feel  like  sinking  and  fainting  in  awe,  call  to  mind 
how  He  is  in  Christ;  that  He  has  a  boundless 
Heart  as  well  as  Power ;  that  mother  never  loved  a 
tithe  as  much  as  He  does  now.  But  if  your  weak 
body  prevents  all  this,  just  in  your  weakness  and 
insensibility  throw  yourself  back  on  His  forbearance, 
and  leave  it  quietly  all  with  Him.  May  God  help 
you,  Emma! 

She  died  on  the  17th  February,  1850,  full  of  pa- 
tience and  courage,  saying  that  at  one  time  she  had 
dreaded  dying  very  much,  but  that  now  she  thought 
God  was  particularly  with  us  at  that  hour,  and 
that  some  people  wanted  to  die  at  one  time  and 
some  at  another,  at  sunset  or  sunrise,  etc.,  but  that 
her  only  wish  was  that  God's  will  should  be  done. 
Mrs.  Gray  wrote  Charles  after  all  was  over:  "She 
had  been  particularly  sweet  and  lovely  during  this 
last  sickness  —  so  gentle  and  loving  —  and  seeming 
to  like  to  be  caressed.  .  .  .  And  to  soften  the  recol- 
lection of  those  days  of  suffering  come  the  pleasant 
memories  of  the  sweetness  and  patience  and  fortitude 
and  cheerfulness  and  gentle  submissiveness  which 
made  her  sick  chamber  a  place  of  blessed  remem- 
brance, and  make  it  a  privilege  to  have  been  there." 


JEt.  24]  HIS  SISTER'S  DEATH  85 

For  three  days  and  nights  Charles  shut  himself 
up,  refusing  to  see  any  one,  and  he  never  spoke  of 
her  in  all  the  long  years  after,  except  in  moments  of 
closest  confidence  with  an  intimate  friend. 

He  writes  of  his  feelings  at  the  time  as  follows :  — 

To  F.  J.  Kingsbury. 

Statex  Island,  March  17,  1850. 
My  dear  Fred ;  ...  I  do  not  think  I  shall  often 
forget  on  a  Sunday  evening,  that  one  on  which  she 
died;  one  of  those  quiet,  mild,  clear  days  we  have 
sometimes  in  winter,  with  a  purple  light  over  the 
hills  —  very  peaceful.  Yes,  she  died  very  much  as 
she  would  have  wished.  It  may  seem  sad  to  others 
that  she  had  no  one  of  her  own  family  with  her  in 
her  last  hours,  but  I  know  her  well  enough  to  be 
almost  sure  she  would  rather  die  as  she  did,  provided 
it  was  no  burden  to  those  who  were  around  her.  She 
opposed  telegraphing  to  me  on  Sunday  morning. 
Probably  her  last  thoughts  were  on  us  friends,  but 
she  would  rather  pass  away  without  being  disturbed 
by  our  pain,  cheerful  and  manly  as  she  was  all 
through  her  sickness.  I  have  been  reading  to-day 
her  journal  written  about  a  fortnight  before  her  death. 
It  is  most  solemn.  She  gives  her  thoughts  of  death, 
and  her  imagination  of  the  feelings  she  would  have 
probably,  the  "strange  consciousness  of  one's  powers 
failing  and  there  being  no  help,  and  the  realizing 
that  one's  fate  was  in  a  few  moments  to  be  sealed  for 
Eternity,"  and  then  her  thoughts  on  the  first  feelings 
after  death.     "It  puzzles  me,"  she  says;  "I  feel  my 


86  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

heart  beat  faster,  as  I  think  how  near  I  myself  may 
be  to  those  moments."  How  it  does  come  over  me 
that  she  is  in  that  other  Avorld !  I  know  her  so  well, 
and  to  think  that  she,  with  all  her  weakness,  her  fun, 
her  pleasant  feelings  to  others,  her  self-reproaches, 
her  feeble  hopes,  her  faults,  her  peculiarities,  all 
those  memories  and  thoughts,  so  exactly  like  ours, 
is  now  knowing  God,  and  beginning  in  feebleness 
her  eternal  course.  I  look  up,  and  almost  realize 
her  in  a  strange,  new,  unspeakable  state  of  happi- 
ness, too  perfect  to  be  believed  true  for  a  time,  just 
resting  herself,  as  it  were,  without  a  fear  or  a  pain, 
on  that  Friend  she  now  for  the  first  time  really 
knows.  I  can  almost  imagine  that  unutterable  love 
she  pours  out  on  Him  as  she  comes  to  know  Him, 
and  the  feeble  —  almost  doubting  —  happiness,  as 
she  finds  all  she  had  ever  dreamed  of  sympathy  and 
purity  and  peace,  beginning  to  be  enjoyed  by  her. 
How  her  thoughts  must  run  back  to  you  and  me! 
But,  Fred,  I  do  every  now  and  then  believe  more 
than  that.  Why  may  she  not  be  here,  as  I  write 
these  words,  looking  in  almost  sadness  at  me?  I 
hardly  dare  believe  it,  and  yet  it's  possible.  But 
no,  I  would  rather  believe  her  far  away,  in  different 
associations,  beginning  in  trembling,  but  trust,  her 
new  life  of  purity  and  more  active  goodness.  Still 
she  cannot  forget  us,  and  if  she  does  know  of  us, 
how  she  must  sigh  that  we  know  Him  so  little. 
How  she  must  long  that  we  could  only  love  that 
Noble  and  Kind  One  as  she  does ! 

Oh,  the  boundlessness  of  our  joy,  our  rapture,  when 
we  first  truly  know  Him!  Wfe  do  dream  sometimes, 
in  rare  moments,  of  an  ideal  of  goodness  and  noble- 


^T.  24]  HIS  SISTER'S  MEMORY  87 

ness,  which  ^youhl  ahnost  ravish  us,  were  we  to  meet 
it.  We  sometimes  believe  God  is  so.  We  do  occa- 
sionally have  gleams  cross  our  souls,  of  a  light  which 
we  certainly  never  see  on  earth,  glimpses  of  sympa- 
thy most  heart-filling,  most  perfect,  such  as,  if  it 
were  to  come  to  us,  would  almost  deprive  us  of  rea- 
son from  its  intense  delight.  Do  3'ou  believe  we 
ever  dreamed  of  anything  God  may  not  give  to  us 
in  another  Life?  Can  our  ideal  be  beyond  His 
heaven  ? 

To  J.  E.  Olmsted. 

[Undated.] 

Dear  John :  How  strange  it  seems  to  me  that  I  shall 
make  new  friends  and  shall  speak  to  them  of  her, 
and  she  will  seem  to  them  like  some  one  who  never 
existed,  or  a  character  in  novels  or  history.  The 
most  warm,  living  character  which  will  ever  be  in 
my  memory !  And  after  a  great  many  years  I  shall 
look  back  and  think  with  the  same  load  on  my  heart 
as  now,  of  a  loving,  generous  nature  who  began  with 
me  and  went  a  little  way  out  in  life  and  then  disap- 
peared. I  shall  speak  of  what  she  "might  have 
been,"  and  not  of  what  she  ^'s,  and  they  will  hear  me 
vaguely,  as  we  do  the  description  of  a  character  in  a 
drama.  The  bright  days  used  to  be  pleasanter  as  I 
thought  of  their  helping  her,  and  I  almost  wondered 
at  my  own  indifference  to  it  afterwards.  I  do  not 
see  how  those  can  bear  such  losses  who  have  no 
religious  hopes.  It  must  be  such  a  dead,  cold,  clear 
loss,  and  nothing  else.  But  the  thought  of  a  good 
Being  who  is  perhaps  most  showing  His  affection  by 
this  very  pang  He  sends,  and  tlie  hope  for  our  friend 
does  change  the  whole  thing  much. 


88  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1850 

I  am  certainly  stronger  and  more  trusting  than  I 
was.  My  first  feelings  were,  for  the  only  time  in 
my  life,  a  strong  desire  for  heaven,  some  place  where 
these  pains  and  heartaches  would  be  all  over  forever; 
but  now  I  am  ready  to  act.  I  do  not,  and  it  seems  as 
if  I  could  not,  doubt  His  care  any  more.  But  oh! 
how  stiflingly  in  odd  places  memories  do  come  over 
me.  The  thought  of  the  old  home,  and  how  it's  all 
broken  up,  and  how  we  can't  meet  again,  and  if  the 
rest  of  us  do,  it  will  not  be  the  same,  and  some  flash 
of  memory,  as  a  cheerful  look  of  hers  comes  up,  or 
one  of  her  generous  actions  to  me.  I  find  myself 
going  over  painful  partings  with  her  in  dreams. 
Yet,  on  the  whole,  I  am  not  gloomy.  I  look  on  it 
as  a  stern  discipline.  I  dread  not  to  meet  sorrow. 
Only  may  He  help  me  to  become  purified  by  it. 

I  do  exceedingly  fear  any  blinding  of  reason  by 
the  feelings  at  such  times,  and  I  have  no  disposition 
to  make  a  saint  of  a  friend  because  he  is  dead.  But 
I  look  back  with  sad  pleasure  on  many  traits  of 
Emma's.  I  do  not  think  you  knew  her  well,  or  saw 
her  best  side ;  but  there  was  a  certain  nobleness  and 
warm-heartedness  in  her  since  a  child,  such  as  I  have 
seldom  seen.  To  me  that  genial  sympathy  of  hers 
was  one  of  the  best  evidences  of  her  love  to  God; 
yet  it  was  not  a  saint-like  geniality;  it  was  warm, 
earthly, —  such  as  I  do  in  any  one  love  from  my  soul. 
I  cannot  meet  a  warmer  heart.  She  will  not  forget 
me,  and  she  knows  that  I  must  remember  her. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Journey  Abroad  —  Walking  Trip  in  Ireland  —  Letter  on  the  Ger- 
man Sunday  —  The  Rhine  and  Edinburgh  —  Letter  on  Social- 
ism—  Decision  to  remain  in  Germany  —  German  Experiences 
and  Study  —  Olmsted  Letters  —  Miscellaneous  Letters,  and 
Opinions  on  the  Fugitive  Slave  Lavr  —  Desire  for  a  Deeper 
Life  —  Tired  of  Travelling 

A  PROPOSITIOK  was  made  to  Charles  early  in  this 
spring  to  break  away  from  familiar  scenes  for  a  few 
months,  and  start  on  a  walking  trip  in  England, 
Ireland,  and  the  Rhine  country  with  his  friends, 
John  and  Frederick  Olmsted.  He  entered  into  the 
plan  with  his  usual  enthusiasm,  and  they  sailed  in 
May.  There  are  no  letters  that  tell  of  his  pleasure 
in  England,  and  we  can  only  picture  to  ourselves 
what  the  experience  to  three  eager,  enthusiastic 
young  men,  devoted  friends,  would  be,  as  with 
knapsacks  on  backs  they  wandered  through  charm- 
ing English  country  scenes.  He  never  lost  the 
vivid  memory  of  that  first  enjoyment  of  England, 
and  through  all  his  life  kept  a  peculiar  sentiment  for 
the  land  of  his  introduction  to  the  delights  of  travel. 

Before  going  to  the  continent,  the  three  compan- 
ions went  to  Ireland,  to  continue  the  walking  trip 


90  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

which  had  been  so  great  a  pleasure  to  them  all. 
They  were  supplied  with  letters  of  introduction  to 
the  family  of  Mr.  Robert  Neill  of  Belfast,  who  had 
always  welcomed  Americans  with  peculiar  friendli- 
ness. He  was  a  strong  anti-slavery  man,  and  num- 
bered amongst  his  American  friends,  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  Henry  C.  Wright,  and  Frederick  Doug- 
lass, who  had  all  been  his  guests.  The  young  men 
were  heartily  welcomed  with  true  Irish  hospitality, 
and  warm  friendships  were  soon  formed.  Writing 
during  the  coming  winter  to  Miss  Letitia  Neill,  who 
afterwards  became  his  wife,  Charles  said :  "  How 
much  have  you  all  done  for  me!  I  know  I  much 
needed  softening  and  changing.  Such  friendliness 
and  kindness  has  been  very  delightful  to  me.  And 
you,  dear,  trustful  friend,  how  much  I  hope  for  a 
happy  and  useful  future  to  you.  Not,  either,  happy, 
but  one  which  shall  best  fit  you  for  the  progress  in 
the  life  beyond.  God  aid  you,  and  may  we  both  be- 
come more  spiritual  and  nearer  Him  in  our  lives. 
You  can  have  a  noble  future.  It  is  to  be  seen 
whether  you  will." 

The  following  bit  of  description  of  one  of  his  walk- 
ing trips  is  interesting  for  the  glimpse  it  gives  at 
the  condition  of  Ireland  in  1850:  — 

"...  Fields  and  foliage  gave  an  appearance  to 
the  whole  country  which  was  very  much  like  that 


^T.  24]  A  GLIMPSE  OF  IRELAND  91 

of  ours  in  the  latter  part  of  August.  Yet  the  small 
whitewashed  cottages  and  handsome  park  gates  were 
not  at  all  American.  Nor  was  the  scenery  English 
either.  One  missed  the  long  lines  of  beautifully 
trimmed  hedges,  and  the  soft,  rich  greensward,  and 
the  general  aspect  of  high  cultivation,  which  charac- 
terize an  English  landscape.  It  was  ajDparent  for 
some  time  we  were  passing  the  estates  of  wealthy 
landholders,  and  the  cottages  of  peasantry  by  no 
means  extremely  depressed  in  their  condition. 
There  was  nothing  of  the  Irish  beggary  we  had 
expected.  Slouchiness  appeared,  it  is  true,  quite 
often  enough;  artistic  cottages  with  pigs  rooting  in 
the  hall;  grand  park  walls  with  immense  fractures, 
and  very  handsome  gates  joined  to  very  poor  hedges, 
but  there  was  very  little  suffering  to  be  seen.  This 
general  appearance  of  the  country  continued  during 
our  first  day's  walk.  We  stopped  at  night  in  a  vile 
little  inn  near  the  'Glen  of  the  Downs,'  and  the 
next  day  began  to  penetrate  more  the  interior.  And 
here,  as  we  went  on,  a  great  change  could  be  seen 
gradually  in  the  aspect  of  the  country.  There  were 
more  fields  filled  with  weeds  or  entirely  neglected; 
the  crops  raised  were  of  the  kind  which  required 
least  labor  and  forethought,  such  as  potatoes  and 
oats ;  the  mud  cottages  were  less  often  whitewashed, 
or  even  well  thatched.  What  the  Bible  speaks  of 
as  the  last  evidence  of  desolation,  that  'the  grass 
shall  grow  on  the  housetops,'  was  here  fulfilled  of 
almost  every  house,  for  a  very  fine  crop  of  oats  might 
have  been  reaped  from  the  cottage  roofs." 


92  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1850 

After  describing,  in  a  letter  to  his  father  from 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  tlie  holiday  character  of  the 
German  Sunday,  he  continues :  — 

"  What  is  the  practical  result  of  all  this  ?  you  ask, 
and  that,  I  believe,  is  the  great  test  of  such  ques- 
tions. In  regard  to  the  Sabbath,  I  am  not  prepared 
to  say.  The  true  religious  spirit  in  a  peoj^le  may 
be  shown  in  various  ways.  Ours  appears  in  grand 
efforts  for  the  good  of  distant  people,  or  in  solemn 
and  simple  public  worship.  Theirs  may  appear  in 
the  beautiful  love  and  truth  which  mark  so  much  of 
German  private  life,  and  may  inspire  their  Sunday 
sociality.  But  I,  for  my  part,  much  fear  the  con- 
trary. I  fear  that  the  religious  element  is  much 
more  deficient  than  is  commonly  supposed.  In 
regard  to  wine-drinking,  I  am  inclined  to  think  the 
Germans  right.  Their  wines  are  light  and  healthy, 
their  beer  is  not  at  all  strong,  and  I  think  both  may 
be  put  among  the  pleasant  productions  of  art,  which 
man  may  use  moderately  with  some  advantage  to  his 
body  and  spirits.  I  am  confirmed  in  this  from  the 
fact  that  you  see  so  little,  so  very  little,  of  intemper- 
ance. In  one  day  in  New  York  I  have  seen  more 
drunken  men  than  I  have  seen  since  I  have  been  in 
Germany.  An  American  who  dislikes  the  Germans 
exceedingly  told  me  he  was  a  year  in  the  country 
before  seeing  a  single  drunken  man.  Then  you 
can't  but  observe  that,  as  a  general  thing,  the  people 
are  a  more  robust-looking,  healthy  people  than  ours, 
without  any  more  exercise  at  all.  I  do  not  say  such 
a  state  of  things  would  be  best  in  America,  for  our 


Mt.  24]  EDINBURGH  93 

Anglo-Saxons  have  a  most  irrepressible  tendency  to 
excess  in  such  things,  but  I  do  think  it  may  be  not 
a  bad  one  for  Germany." 

In  September  the   friends  returned   to  Scotland, 
whence  he  writes :  — 

To  his  Father. 

Edinburgh,  Sunday,  Sept.  29,  1850. 
Ml/  dear  Father ;  .  .  .  I  said  I  was  disappointed 
in  them.i  Perhaps  it  was  in  part  because  I  seemed 
to  myself,  with  my  peculiar  objects,  losing  time  a 
little  in  seeing  scenery.  I  wanted  to  see  Scotchmen. 
However,  I  have  been  gratified  in  this  considerably 
in  Edinburgh,  and  have  made  very  pleasant  acquaint- 
ances. They  treat  me  here,  as  everywhere,  very 
kindly.  In  fact,  I  believe  mankind  have  done  much 
more  for  me  than  I  have  for  them.  I  may  change 
the  balance  some  day,  however.  Despite  the  most 
unexpected  kindness  we  have  received  everywhere, 
I  am  obliged  to  say  my  opinion  of  human  nature  has 
not  improved  during  my  travels.  My  old  distrust  is 
rather  strengthened,  yet  I  am  determined  all  the 
more  to  labor  for  men,  though  most  sadly  conscious 
of  their  weakness  and  my  own.  I  hope  all  this 
falling  in  with  men  of  all  sorts  may  do  me  some 
good,  with  reference  to  my  minister's  life.  And  I 
think  it  will.  I  think  I  am  more  ready  for  strange 
situations,  and  shall  get  along  better  with  men  differ- 
ent from  me  than  I  used  to. 

1  Scotch  scenes. 


94  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

By  the  way,  I  noticed  something  in  your  last 
"Courant,"  which  I  wanted  to  say  a  word  upon.  It 
was  a  paragraph  in  which  you  echoed  the  popular 
language  about  "Socialistic  tendencies,"  I  think  a 
great  many  good  people  have  come,  from  reading 
religious  newspapers,  quite  to  identify  Socialism 
with  infidelity  and  everything  bad.  And  your  mode 
of  expression  there,  possibly,  might  lead  them  to 
think  you  countenanced  this  impression  of  Social- 
ism. Without  in  the  least  upholding  Socialism  as 
a  whole,  1  think  as  developed  in  our  country  it  has 
shown  scarcely  any  of  the  bad  qualities  people  charge 
it  with.  One  of  the  principal  ideas  in  it  I,  for  one, 
am  disposed  to  think  a  good  one,  and  at  least  worth 
trying, —  and  one  which  is  being  already  tested  in 
many  of  the  Massachusetts  manufactories,  I  believe, 
—  that  of  associated  labor.  That  is,  the  workmen 
are  "  associated  "  with  the  capital,  own  a  share  of  the 
stock,  and  their  wages  depend  on  the  success  of 
the  establishment.  You  can  see  how  much  more 
thorough  and  cheerful  labor  would  be  where  the 
workmen  owned  a  share  in  the  concern.  Every  one 
would  have  a  responsibility  then.  Or  carrying  out 
"  associated  labor  "  farther,  suppose  an  establishment 
where  there  were  no  masters,  except  as  elected  by 
the  rest,  and  here  again  the  stock  was  owned  b}^  the 
laborers,  and  wages  proportioned  to  labor  and  talent, 
with  the  additional  proviso  that  in  case  of  the  work- 
er's illness  or  death  or  misfortune,  his  family  are  to 
be  taken  care  of  by  the  association.  In  this  you 
have  the  Paris  "  Socialistic  "  workshops  —  nothing 
so  very  terrible  in  all  this !  Though  I  grant  it  may 
be  a  bad  principle.     Perhaps  it  makes  men  too  little 


^T.  24]  FRENCH  SOCIALISM  95 

self-reliant.  Yet  in  these  old  countries,  where  it  is 
so  hard  to  get  along,  such  help  seems  more  rational. 
Then  you  know  in  Paris  the  "associated  workmen  " 
deal  with  one  another  first,  and  thus  get  things  by 
exchange  or  wholesale  prices.  Their  other  great 
idea  of  "each  man's  right  to  land,"  I  think,  has 
arisen  from  the  terrible  evils  arising  in  countries 
where  each  man  could  not  own  land,  and  as  they 
generally  propose  to  carry  it  out  here  contains  notli- 
ing  very  bad,  it  seems  to  me.  It  is  the  true  "agra- 
rian policy,"  though  not,  I  suspect,  as  you  under- 
stand that  word.  You  know  modern  researches 
have  changed  the  meaning  and  the  odium  of  that 
term,  and  Niebuhr  and  Dr.  Arnold  have  quite  re- 
covered the  good  fame  of  the  Marii  and  others  who 
proposed  the  agrarian  bills.  Their  policy  was  simply 
to  give  every  "  Burgher "  (or  plehs)  a  share  in  the 
public  lands  conquered  from  the  enemy.  The  Social- 
ists here  have  much  the  same  idea,  though  perhaps 
often  they  would  wish  to  change  the  laws  of  prop- 
erty here.  Yet  I  have  never  seen  that  idea  much 
advanced.  Their  plans  for  united  families  and  all 
that  seem  foolish,  but  should  not  prevent  us  seeing 
what  good  there  is  in  them.  I  wish  much  you  would 
go  into  a  thorough  examination  of  Socialism,  and 
compare  it  with  Roman  agrarianism  and  Bible  agra- 
rianism,  which  was  ten  times  more  socialistic  than 
the  modern  plan,  inasmuch  as  rural  property  was  all 
subdivided  equally  again  every  fifty  years.  I  think, 
too,  the  agrarian  policy  of  the  Peruvian  Empire  and 
that  of  Lacedaemon  miglit  be  brought  in  with  much 
interest.  Don't  try  without  going  very  thoroughly, 
and  reading  even  Fourier,  because  it  is  a  good  sub- 


96  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

ject,    and    I    wish   to   try   it   if   you   haven't   time 
for  it. 

I  long  very  much  to  get  back  to  study  once  more, 
and  to  be  getting  at  the  real  work  of  life.  I  am 
enjoying  Edinburgh  very  much,  —  a  beautiful  city, 
with  strange  contrasts  of  elegance  and  misery. 

Charles  had  been  considering  the  project  of  remain- 
ing in  Germany  after  the  departure  of  his  compan- 
ions, with  the  object  of  stiidying  theology  and  of 
obtaining  a  thorough  knowledge  of  German  home- 
life,  intending  to  return  home  in  December.  Accord- 
ingly, John  and  Frederick  Olmsted  left  him,  and 
their  love  and  helpfulness,  shown  both  in  practi- 
cal matters  and  in  their  youthful  ideals,  brightened 
many  a  day  to  come,  and  were  constantly  expressed 
in  letters  of  which  we  shall  quote  passages  as  they 
connect  themselves  with  Charles's  own.  John 
Olmsted  writes,  "Well,  good-bye  to  you.  If  it  is 
our  last  good-bye,  why  I  only  add,  Keep  on  truth- 
seeking  and  men-helping.  We  have  lived  a  life 
which  has  been  intercogged  one  with  another,  and 
I  hope  we  have  not  given  one  another  the  last 
jog  yet.  I  shall  be  almost  as  glad  to  see  you  in 
December,  T  feel,  as  I  am  now  to  leave  you, —  I 
mean  as  I  am  now  to  be  hurrying  home.  You  and 
I  are  of  different  fibre,  I  believe,  but  have  lived  long 
in  the  same  soil,  and  the  same  sap  has  run  through 
us,  so  that  I  hope  we  shall  both  bear  indistinguish- 


iET.  24]  LIFE  IN  GERMANY  97 

able,  indubitable,  and  indestructible  fruit.  I  shall 
try  to  be  spontaneously  strong,  and  not  need  the 
rough  winds  that  have  torn  you  to  make  me  take 
deep  root.     God  spare  me !  " 

Life  began  at  once  for  Charles  as  he  had  planned 
it,  in  visits  among  the  people  and  intimate  rela- 
tions in  large  home-circles,  where  he  seems  to  have 
been  treated  from  the  first  with  friendliest  consid- 
eration, as  the  letters  written  all  through  this  win- 
ter plainly  reveal. 

To  J.  H.  Olmsted. 

Kiel,  Oct.  22,  1850. 
My  dear  John :  I  take  it  that  to-day  the  black  hull 
of  the  City  of  Grlasgoiv  is  looming  up  on  the  horizon 
off  South-side,  and  by  this  evening  you  will  be  before 
the  bright  grate  in  the  little  parlor,  fighting  your 
battles  over  again.  I  call  up  these  visions  with  no 
feeling  of  discontent,  for  the  pleasantest  part  of  my 
European  travel,  almost,  has  been  this  Hamburg 
visit.  I  have  had  the  pleasantest  run  of  visiting 
and  that  kind  of  thing,  and  whether  this  homeless 
kind  of  a  life  is  making  me  a  little  susceptible,  or 
whether  the  melody  of  these  German  ladies'  voices 
has  reached  me,  I  don't  know,  but  certainly  I  have 
come  uncommonly  near  falling  in  love  with  some  of 
them.  This  visiting  is  the  most  unselfish,  affection- 
ate form  of  human  life,  "the  mine  and  thine"  is  so 
laid  aside,  and  I  should  think  it  would  play  the 
mischief  with  some  people's  hearts.     Besides,  I  think 


98  CHARLES   LORING   BRACE  [1850 

I  "  intercog "  (as  you  say)  with  the  Germans  very 
well.  Only  yesterday  Lieutenant  (I  believe)  Ficius, 
son  of  Ohmstein  Ficius,  of  Eutin,  in  the  Duchy  of 
Oldenburgh,  did  himself  the  honor  to  call  upon  me 
just  to  tell  me  that  I  was  a  good  fellow,  that  I  had  the 
"  echtes  deutscJies  Angesicht "  and  the  true  "  deutsehe 
Gutmuthigkeit.''''  I  have  been  ten  days  in  Hamburg, 
and  during  that  time  have  dined  out  eight  times, 
besides  always  supping  and  sometimes  breakfasting; 
and  dining  with  these  Hamburgers  is  a  rather 
different  affair  from  what  it  is  in  some  places,  in- 
cluding an  unlimited  quantity  of  courses  and  all 
sorts  of  good  things.  My  German  grows  fast,  and 
there  is  some  need  of  it,  for  I  have  perpetrated  some 
most  daring  things  on  the  strength  of  it ;  for  instance, 
penetrating  into  that  pleasant  family  in  Lyndau  near 
the  Ploner  See,  where  no  one  knew  a  word  of  Eng- 
lish, and  calling  upon  divers  peoj)le  in  Eutin,  where 
I  was  left  Englisidos  and  hiilflos.  I  am  here  now 
in  Kiel,  going  to  Rendsburgh  to-night  to  see  if  I  can 
see  the  camps.  My  good  fortune  here  has  enabled 
me  to  see  what  I  wanted  to  much, —  the  home-life  of 
the  upper  classes. 

To  F.  J.  Kingsbury. 

Beelix,  Nov.  3,  1850. 
Dear  Fred :  I  find  myself  more  and  more  disposed 
to  look  all  around  a  question,  and  less  and  less 
apt  to  feel  either  very  strong  admiration  or  contempt 
at  things.  I  half  dread  this  sort  of  state,  yet  I  am 
irresistibly  drawn  to  it,  and  though  it  seems  for  the 


^T.  24]  BERLINESE  TRAITS  99 

time  a  loss  of  earnestness,  I  do  not  believe  it  will  be 
in  the  long  run.  I  grow  sick  of  ex  parte  enthusiasm 
and  eloquence,  and  tired  of  these  violent  likes  and 
dislikes,  which  seem  to  dejDend  on  the  "  latitude  " 
and  nothing  else.  I  settle  every  day  more  solidly 
and  comfortably  on  the  conclusion  that  I  am  going 
to  be  '"''ganz  und  gar^''''  utterly  and  entirely,  true  to 
myself;  and  if '^myself "  forces  me  to  believe  that 
neither  the  devil  is  altogether  black,  nor  "Henry 
Martin "  altogether  white,  I  am  going  to  say  so. 
My  opinion  is  that  each  man's  own  particular  and 
greatest  bent  shows  his  best  course  for  doing  good. 
Some  one  told  me,  not  long  ago,  that  they  sliould 
like  to  see  one  "  unmitigated  tirade  "  from  my  pen, 
"against  anything,  no  matter  what,  so  that  it  had 
no  'but'  in  it."  It's  these  unmitigated  tirades,  I 
believe,  which  have  delayed  the  progress  of  truth  so, 
especially  among  the  clerical  gentry.  I  am  going 
to  do  my  best,  to  see  if  I  can't  be  that  most  difficult 
thing, —  an  honest,  candid  clergyman.  If  I  am,  I  do 
not  think  I  shall  win  much  honor  or  comfort  in  my 
generation,  but  I  shall  do  more  for  mankind  than  if 
I  did. 

I  am  here  in  Berlin,  as  I  suppose  I  have  said. 
Such  an  economical,  simple-living,  cultivated  peo- 
ple I  never  saw !  No  hospitality,  still  good  feeling. 
I  should  like  'em  well  if  I  knew  more  of  them.  I 
do  like  them  now.  I  get  along  well -with  Germans. 
We  are  something  alike,  except  that  I  am  far  more 
practical  (!).  I  cog  in  with  most  men  now  better, 
but  there  is  a  certain  class  which  I  find  the  hardest 
to  work  with,  and  with  whom  it  is  rather  harder 
now  for  me  than  ever, —  I  mean  the  literary  class, 


100  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

who  rather  affect  the  dilettante.  If  they  were  really 
so,  one  could  get  along  with  them  as  inferior  creat- 
ures ;  but  to  find  really  earnest  men,  or  at  least  men 
able  to  be  so,  assuming  this,  takes  one  all  aback. 
And  it's  very  common  in  the  student-class  the  world 
over.  Give  me  the  men  who  mean  something,  if 
they  are  not  half  so  cultivated.  Give  me  the  men 
who  look  on  life  as  having  some  solidity  and  stuff 
in  it,  and  not  as  a  sort  of  vapor  with  shadows  on  it. 
How  can  a  man  who  sees  this  miserable,  discon- 
tented, misfortune-worried  race  of  ours,  look  on  their 
folly  and  wretchedness  as  a  thing  for  a  joke  ? 

November  29th.  ...  I  have  seen  a  great  deal 
of  Germany  since  I  have  been  here,  perhaps  more 
than  I  have  of  any  people,  unless,  possibly,  England. 
They  have  passed  me  from  one  to  another  most  beau- 
tifully, and  I  number  a  host  of  acquaintances  now, 
many  corresponding,  and  all  very  friendly.  I  have 
been  thrown  in,  too,  quite  fortunately,  in  the  upper 
set  in  talent  and  position,  so  that  my  opportunities 
for  seeing  North-Germany  have  been  remarkably 
good.  I  think  I  am  a  much  better  man  for  this 
German  visit.  It  makes  one  love  humanity  better 
to  meet  so  many  kind-hearted  people,  and  to  receive 
so  many  entirely  unselfish  favors  and  kindness. 
And  there  is  something  so  heart-opening  in  this 
universal  way  of  the  Germans.   .   .   . 

I  have  a  kind  of  feeling  growing  on  me  that  my 
only  and  great  business  in  the  world  is  men-help- 
ing, and  as  a  lawyer,  as  a  matter  of  course,  does 
many  sorts  of   law  business  which  are  not  profita- 


^T.  24]  LIFE  IN  BERLIN  101 

ble,  merely  because  it  is  his  profession,  so  I  will 
help  men  everywhere,  in  all  sorts  of  things,  without 
any  especial  emotion  always,  but  under  tlie  conscious- 
ness I  am  only  doing  my  business,  and  that  it's  all 
in  the  profession,  not  of  a  minister,  but  Christian. 
Still  I  never  lose  sight  now  that  religion  is  innum- 
erable-sided. 


December  came  all  too  soon,  and  Charles  decided 
that  it  would  be  wiser  to  stay  in  Berlin  and  study 
tlii"oughout  the  winter.  The  first  of  the  following 
letters  gives  his  reason,  and  then  we  have  a  series 
of  pictures  of  his  daily  life. 

"...  You  know  I  have  decided,"  he  writes  to 
his  father,  "to  stay  in  Berlin  this  winter.  This 
decision  was  made  doubtfully,  but  my  friends,  the 
Olmsteds  and  Dr.  Bushnell,  advised,  and  I  heard 
you  were  not  averse,  and  I  believe  now  I  am  here  I 
should  make  the  most  of  it.  I  shall  acquire  the 
German  very  well,  and  shall  see  the  rest  of  Europe 
next  spring.  It  is  not  probable  I  can  ever  travel 
again,  and  now  I  have  the  chance,  should  I  not  use 
it?  My  plan  is  to  stay  in  Berlin  this  winter,  where 
I  can  live  for  fifty  cents  a  day,  and  in  March  to  start 
for  Hungary  through  Austria,  see  that  country  thor- 
oughly, and  from  there  go  to  Venice  and  Italy  and 
Switzerland.  I  shall  walk  as  much  as  possible. 
My  great  object  is  to  know  Hungary  and  Austria. 
It's  rather  daring,  considering  my  means,  to  do  all 
this,  but  I  think  the  plan  will  secure  me  correspond- 


102  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

ence  enough  to  pay  my  way.  In  Berlin  I  can  study 
theology  and  politics  very  well.  I  wish  I  could  get 
more  letters  here  to  Berlin,  and  especially  for  next 
year  in  Vienna  and  Hungary.  But  there's  time. 
It  seems  a  long  time  not  to  see  you  all  again,  and  I 
am  sometimes  very  doubtful  of  the  reasonableness  of 
all  my  plans,  but  I  find  all  the  while  so  much  benefit 
from  this  incessant  mingling  w4th  men,  and  this 
contrivance  and  use  of  my  practical  energies,  and  I 
am  getting  so  many  ideas,  that  I  do  not  believe  I 
shall  in  the  end  regret  it.  It's  strange  that  Provi- 
dence and  friends  have  thrown  the  abstract  '  Theo- 
log,'  around  so  among  people.  How  essentially  it 
will  change  my  destiny  —  with  what  result  ?  God 
knows.  All  that  I  can  do,  and  all  that  I  gain, 
shall  be  and  is.  His.  But  who  can  see  his  own 
future  ? 

"...  I  am  quite  desirous-  of  hearing  what  posi- 
tion you  have  taken  about  that  slave-law.  Though 
I  know  I  shall  not  agree  with  you.  I  regard  it  as 
one  of  the  most  abominable  instruments  ever  framed, 
and  I  would  rather  be  sent  to  Sing  Sing  for  life  than 
in  any  way  help  to  execute  it." 

To  F.  J.  Kingsbury . 

Hamburg,  Dec.  8,  1850. 
Dear  Fred:  ...  I  have  been  looking  on  the 
political  movements  of  Germany  pretty  closely  the 
last  two  months,  and  I  feel  sick  at  heart  as  I  think 
of  what  things  are  done  yet  under  the  sun.  There 
is  a  God,  and  I  believe  yet  that  mean  deceiver  and 


iEx.  24]  THE  HUNGARIAN  PATRIOTS  103 

elegant  tyrant  in  Berlin  will  meet  his  due.  And 
that  Austrian  government!  I  come  across,  occa- 
sionally, these  Hungarians,  men  of  noble  spirit,  of 
keen  sense,  who  knew  what  they  fought  for,  and 
what  they  should  lose.  They  have  little  hope,  they 
tell  me,  in  this  generation.  They  themselves  can  win 
nothing.  But  in  another  they  have  not  a  doubt 
Hungary  will  be  what  she  strove  to  be.  They  say 
the  people  are  showing  now  their  old  national  endur- 
ance and  stubborn  resistance  where  it  is  possible  to 
resist.  They  themselves,  perhaps,  can  help  it  on  by 
suffering  a  little  more  (if  that  is  possible),  and  they 
can  die.  They  are  here  in  Germany  (men  often  of 
the  highest  rank)  in  poverty  and  disgrace,  but  I 
know  no  inducements  would  tempt  them  for  a  moment 
into  submitting  to  the  Austrian  government.  And 
if  there  is  a  general  war,  and  Prussia  will  admit  it, 
there  will  be  a  corps  in  her  army  whose  blows  will 
strike  home!  And  oh,  to  think  what  might  have 
been!  The  best  effort  for  freedom  this  century! 
And  all  trampled  and  scourged  down.  "  How  long  ?  " 
These  things  come  home  to  me  now  as  I  am  here, 
and  meet  the  sufferers,  and  see  the  gallant,  noble 
hearts  who  are  groaning  under  it  all.  I  find  myself 
praying  to  God  with  tears  that  the  day  for  all  this  to 
cease  may  come  —  this  crushing  injustice  and  tyranny 
and  oppression.  Oh,  that  I  could  do  something! 
And  then  to  think  of  that  damnable  thing  going  on 
at  home,  and  that  black  injustice  and  wrong  crying 
for  vengeance,  and  this  outrageous,  inhuman  Law, 
which  would  fasten  that  tyranny  on  our  shoulders ! 
Oh,  how  much  yet  before  humanity  even  begins  to 
be  what  we  have  dreamed  it! 


104  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

To  J.  H.  Olmsted. 

Berlin,  Dec.  13,  1850. 

My  dear  John :  My  campaign  began  last  night  in 
Berlin  by  my  carrying  all  my  luggage  by  hand  up 
to  my  old  boarding-place,  and  settling  down  there 
till  I  find  another.  ...  I  went  to  some  of  the 
Americans  whom  I  know  studying  here.  I  was  not 
at  all  prej^ared  for  the  contrast.  The  truth  is,  I 
have  been  in  Hamburg  as  in  a  liome,  and  the  last 
night  my  friends  looked  quite  as  blue  as  1  did,  at 
my  leaving.  Then  to  come  right  down  among  these 
men,  all  of  them  with  a  kind  of  indifference  to 
things  in  general,  and  a  sort  of  roughness,  which  I 
begin  almost  to  think  American ;  it  was  like  jump- 
ing into  a  cold  bath.  It  weighed  on  me,  and  I  was 
glad  to  get  to  bed  and  forget  it.  This  humanity  of 
the  Germans  becomes  almost  a  necessity  of  life  for 
me.  To  be  able  to  meet  men  as  if  you  had  an  inter- 
est in  them  and  they  in  you,  as  if  it  wasn't  poetry 
that  you  were  "brothers,"  and  it  was  no  impudence 
to  talk  freely  of  their  affairs,  or  intrusion  or  impro- 
priety to  speak  of  your  own,  to  have  the  abiding, 
understanding  idea  of  your  intercourse  all  the  while, 
a  kind  of  open-hearted,  social  respect, —  this  is  what 
I  like  so  in  them,  and  what  I  didn't  find  in  those 
fellows,  and  what  will  cool  me  off  so,  I  know,  when 
I  get  home. 

I  think  I  can  succeed  in  keeping  within  forty  or 
fifty  cents  per  day.  But  I  must  have  society,  and 
must  be  respectable,  so  that  there  will  be  some  diffi- 
culties. 


^T.  24]      EATING  AS  A  SOCIAL  ELEMENT  105 

I  am  inclined  to  think,  John,  that  the  true  view 
of  human  life  would  bring  in  eating  as  an  important 
element.  Not  eating  as  a  mere  means  of  animal 
pleasure,  but  just  as  the  embrace  and  the  kiss  are  at 
once  the  expressions  and  the  aid  of  affection,  so  is 
eating  an  expression  of  joy,  and  an  aid  of  sociality. 
We  might  wish  to  have  sociality  and  the  higher 
intercourse  freed  entirely  from  the  bodily  influence, 
and  purely  spiritual.  But  they  never  are,  and  for 
some  wise  reason  there  is  no  lofty  emotion  which 
is  entirely  separate  from  bodily  states. 

I  am  disposed  —  not  like  Jane  Eyre,  and  perhaps 
Emerson  —  to  believe  that  the  true  course  is  to  sanc- 
tify eating.  Not  to  look  down  upon  it,  but  to  make 
it  a  means  of  the  higher  influences.  This  seems  to 
me  the  idea  of  the  Bible.  As  was  natural  in  an 
early  age,  eating  in  the  Old  Testament  was  always 
the  expression  of  hai^piness  and  sociality.  In  the 
New,  is  it  not  remarkable  how  much  Christ  is  spoken 
of  at  meals.  His  noblest  thoughts,  his  greatest  out- 
pourings of  real  feeling,  are  at  the  table,  where  good 
cheer  has  been.  His  best  speeches  and  teachings 
are  often  at  dinner.  The  peculiar  rites  —  yes,  the 
only  rites  —  which  he  transmits,  are  the  changing 
the  convivial  meal  into  a  remembrance  of  Him.  His 
appearance  after  the  crucifixion  is  at  the  breakfast- 
table,  and  His  last  appearance  on  earth  is  at  a  dinner 
in  the  open  air.  Is  not  this  the  idea  of  the  G-race  ? 
As  Charles  Lamb  has  said,  "He  could  not  see  why 
he  should  thank  God  more  for  a  dinner  than  for  a 
new  pair  of  boots !  "  and  I  have  felt  this  so,  that  I 
have  often  asked  God  to  bless  us  in  this,  even  the 
smallest  act  of  our  lives.     But  is  not  the  real  idea 


106  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1850 

that  the  meal  is  one  of  the  best  aids  of  sociality  and 
best  expressions  of  happiness,  and  that  in  that  time 
of  friendly,  pleasant  intercourse,  we  especially  want 
the  aid  of  God  and  His  company  to  make  it  all  noble 
and  good  ?  Is  not  this  the  healthy,  natural  idea  of 
eating  of  a  man  who  had  not  been  a  glutton  and  was 
now  reacting, —  a  man  reasonable,  with  good  appe- 
tite and  social  affections  ? 

I  fear  this  almost  sounds  irreverent  in  some  parts, 
but  it  shouldn't.  Consider  it  a  question.  Don't 
think  that  my  lips  are  smacking  now,  with  the  re- 
membrance of  the  Hamburg  dinners.  If  I  could 
have  now  a  tip-top  Senator  Meyer  German  dinner, 
with  eighteen  courses  and  wines,  all  by  myself,  I 
should  hardly  prefer  it  to  my  bouillon  and  Ganseklein 
for  seven  and  a  quarter  cents ;  but  give  me  a  com- 
pany or  family  dinner,  when  thought  and  kind  feel- 
ing and  language  are  waked  up  by  the  good  cheer, 
if  it  be  only  tea  and  bread  and  butter,  and  I  ac- 
knowledge I  should  prefer  it.  Is  not  every  meal  a 
Lord's  supper,  and  should  not  every  Lord's  supper 
be  a  social  meal? 

I  still  figure  in  the  old  brown  coat  and  opera  hat, 
no  kid  gloves  (lost  three  pair  of  woollen  and  kid  since 
I've  been  in  Germany).  I've  joined  an  admirable 
reading-room.  Curtius  will  help  me  get  books 
from  the  Library.  I  have  a  capital  circle  of  ac- 
quaintances. It  increases,  too,  among  the  first  intel- 
lectual people  of  Germany.  Curtius  is  a  friend  of 
Humboldt,  and  I  find  is  really  considered  a  very 
remarkable  man.  I  can't  understand,  though,  why 
he  and  his  wife  live  in  so  simple  a  way, —  third 
story,  and  works  all  the  while. 


^T.  24]  LETTERS  TO  THE  PRESS  107 

To  his  Father. 

Berlin,  Dec,  21,  1850. 

M^  dear  Father:  ...  I  have  started  with  the 
Royal  Library  —  Strauss 's  "Life  of  Christ,"  and 
Schleiermacher's  "Sermons,"  and  de  Wette;  so  you 
see  I  am  furnished  theologically.  ...  I  think  if 
John's  efforts  should  fail  to  get  me  another  corre- 
spondence in  Hungary,  etc.,  you  might  possibly 
make  another  effort  with  one  of  the  Washington 
papers,  though  I  don't  believe  they  are  at  all  rich. 

At  about  this  time  J.  H.  Olmsted  writes :  — 

"In  general  I  like  your  letters  now  ver}''  much, 
and  I  think  they  must  satisfy  you  much  better  than 
the  English  efforts.^  Us  they  make  want  to  see  you 
very  much,  and  are  real  aggravations  that  we  can't 
know  more  about  it, —  just  that  more  that  you  would 
tell  us  if  we  could  meet  once  a  week,  as  when  we 
used  to  separate  for  a  few  days  in  England.  I  quite 
agree  with  you  in  what  you  say  of  your  future  —  that 
you  feel  no  anxiety  about  the  mere  making  a  living. 
Livings  will  follow  a  person  of  your  power  anywhere. 
I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  as  teacher,  preacher, 
or  wanderer  you  will  compel  salaries  forever.  .  .  . 
To  us  it  would  be  just  the  summit-pleasure  of  the 
winter  to  have  you  come  back.  We  idealize  you 
more  than  ever  now  you  are  so  long  away,  and  when 
you  come  back  you  will  find  a  model  of  yourself  that 
will  be  no  easy  matter  to  live  up  to.     We  do  want 

1  Allusion  to  letters  in  The  Christian  Union  and  other  papers. 


108  CHARLES  LORlNG  BRACE  [1850 

yonr  influence  very  much,  but  content  ourselves 
with  waiting  for  it  with  higher  development  and 
greater  power." 

"...  I  really  envy  you  the  most  delightful  winter 
you  are  spending;  so  intellectually  high  and  morally, 
humanely  high  a  life  in  its  relations  will  never  come 
again.  Make  the  most  of  it.  Crowd  your  time  still 
more  than  you  do  with  meetings,  contacts  with  souls. 
I  have  almost  forgotten  you,  and  almost  worship 
you  when  I  hear  you  say  how  easily  and  constantly 
you  win  intimacy  with  'beautiful  souls.'  Beauti- 
ful, you  being  judge,  who  I  know  have  no  lower 
idea  of  beauty  than  of  old.  It  is  a  life  worth  liv- 
ing. Here,  to  me  now,  in  New  York,  it  seems  there 
are  no  beautiful  souls ;  and  if  there  are  any  few  here, 
—  of  course  I  can't  doubt  it,  —  the  thought  of  win- 
ning intimacy  with  them  is  like  your  theory  of  uni- 
versal salvation,  so  distant  and  dubious. 

"...  You  were  quite  right  in  saying  your  pres- 
ent life  is  fitting  you  for  a  more  thorough  and  varied 
influence.  It  is  a  noble  view  to  take  of  it,  and  a 
true  one,  I  think.  Keep  this  in  view  though,  quite 
distinctly,  that  your  field  of  influence  is  going  to  be 
America  —  not  Europe.  I  have  very  rarely  seen  a 
person  who  spent  more  than  a  year  or  two  in  Europe, 
who  didn't  turn  out  unfitted,  when  he  returned,  for 
a  real  practical  life  in  America,  and  who  didn't  have 
ever  after  longings  more  or  less  indefinite  after 
Europe,  and  more  soul-satisfying  trips  there.  I 
don't  think  so  of  you.  You  know  the  danger,  and 
have  a  more  real  earnestness  than  most.     So  I  don't 


^T.  24]  THE  FUGITIVE   SLAVE  LAW  109 

fear,  but  recommend  pushing  on  and  staying  as  long 
as  you  can.  'If  you  find  American  life  so  dull,  you 
might  as  well  cut  stick  from  the  world ;  for,  let  me  tell 
you,  nowhere  is  there  such  a  real  movement  in  the 
world  as  in  our  good  land, '  do  you  say  ?  But,  Charley, 
you  know  better.  Compare  the  number  of  moving 
men  we  met  in  London  —  you  have  met  and  told  us  of 
in  Germany  —  with  the  number  you  know  in  America. 
.  .  .  Haven't  you  seen  more  of  life  abroad  that  sat- 
isfies you  intellectually  than  you  would  here  in  ten 
years?  .  .  .  We  want  ten  thousand  such  apostles  of 
ideas  as  you  to  come  and  work,  and  work  against  the 
material  tendency  that  is  swamping  us.  That  will 
be  your  exact  post  when  you  return,  to  direct  the 
fierce  energies  here,  to  lead  towards  divine  things, 
to  join  Emerson  in  his  work,  in  a  different  way,  to 
speak  a  word,  and  never  cease  speaking  a  word,  for 
ideas.  As  for  the  bundles  of  rags  that  lean  over  the 
velvet  pulpits  about  here  to-day,  they  might  as  well 
be  dipped  in  turpentine  and  set  fire  to  at  once.  If 
you  don't  come  home  a  practical  man,  a  man  who 
can  lead  Yankees  in  invention  and  activity,  you 
might  as  well  stay  where  you  are.  ...  I  don't 
quite  like  your  remarks  about  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law.  You  seem  to  assume  that  I  am  less  abhorrent, 
less  willing  to  lay  down  anything,  more  blinded  by 
contiguity,  than  you.  That  I  should  totally  deny. 
You  say  it  makes  us  at  last  personally  responsible 
before  God  for  slavery.  How  ?  How,  in  any  degree 
more  than  the  law  which  you  swore  to  support  when 
you  gave  your  first  vote  (if  it  was  in  Connecticut)? 
The  responsibility  rests  entirely  on  those  who  made 
the  law,  and  those  who  voted  for  those  who  made 


110  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

the  law,  and  who  did  not  to  their  utmost  attempt  to 
dissuade  men  from  voting  so.  Wherein  I  do  con- 
fess guilt,  but  no!  " 

F.  L.  Olmsted  writes :  "I  am  thinking  that  it's 
all  the  better  for  you  that  you  have  this  German 
experience  alone.  You  will  be  more  apt  to  take 
large  and  wholesome  views  that  you  have  not  to 
oppose  our  stand-pointed-ness.  More  apt  even  to 
act  and  think  out  of  yourself,  beyond  your  ancient 
self,  progress,  improve.  I  was  brought  to  this  by 
thinking  that  your  letters  seemed  very  satisfactory, 
and  not  provocative  of  questioning  and  explanations. 
Give  us  all  the  real  life,  the  manifestation,  the  'gos- 
pel '  you  can.  It's  worth,  after  all,  more  than  your 
epistles,  though  they  are  invaluable.  Tell  us  what 
you  do,  and  what  people  do  to  you,  and  in  what  way 
your  impulses  are  moved,  as  much  as  you  can.  It's 
worth  more  than  your  thoughts  to  us  who  know  you. 
Hurrah  for  'unconscious  influence '  all  the  world 
over !  It  really  seems  to  me  you  get  just  the  views 
I  should,  which  is  singular.  I  wish  you  would  see 
and  tell  us  more  of  the  proper  'Pedestrian  Corre- 
spondent's '  subjects.  Do  walk  out  and  talk  with 
the  farm  servants  and  the  waiters  and  the  soldiers 
and  the  beggars.  What  is  their  life?  What  their 
character?  What  their  wants,  and  what  do  they 
think  ?  .  .  .  You  ought  to  go  and  spend  a  week  or 
two  with  some  country  parson.  'Twould  be  worth 
more  than  theologic  study.  Ask  among  your  friends 
for  an  introduction  that  will  permit  a  request  for 
this.     It  would  be  reasonable." 


^T.  24]        COMMON  SENSE  vs.  IDEALITY  111 

To  F.  L.  Obiisted. 

February,  [1851]. 

You  talk,  Fred,  in  despair,  as  if  the  "  saints  "  were 
a  dead  species  in  America,  or  had  all  just  been  mar- 
tyred. In  my  belief,  there  is  no  country  in  the 
world  where  there  are  so  man}^  at  least  among  the 
young  j)6ople.  What  nation  is  there  where  you 
could  find  a  set  of  young  persons  growing  up  with 
the  plans  and  theories  and  aims  (I  say  not  practice) 
of  ours?  You  tell  me  to  go  to  Bingen  and  London 
to  find  them.  But  you've  only  to  ferry  to  Brooklyn, 
and  you  have  one  of  the  best  of  'em  —  H.  W.  B.  — 
or  to  Hartford,  and  there  are  plenty.   .   .   . 

Is  it  not  melancholy,  F.,  how  one  gets  gradually 
forced  into  giving  it  up  to  old  common-sense!  I 
am  submitting  every  day  to  the  old  woman,  con- 
found it!  I  am  getting  to  believe,  as  I  see  the 
world,  that  a  wife  cannot  be  a  heroine,  or  an  author- 
ess raise  children;  that  there's  a  distinction  between 
goodness  and  religion;  that  one  mustn't  speak  the 
whole  truth  always;  that  the  true  man  must  have 
relaxation ;  in  short,  a  good  number  of  the  dogmas  I 
have  always  bitterly  opposed.  I  defy  thee,  oh  Com- 
mon Sense,  and  yet  I  know  I  am  terribly  afraid  of 
thee!  And  somehow,  thou  always  lickest  a  poor 
fellow  in  his  own  generation,  and  thou  drivest  him 
to  the  dogs,  thou  laughest  so  over  him.  But  thou 
had'st  a  grin  and  a  joke  over  Cromwell,  and  the 
steam-engine  was  hooted  by  thee,  and  the  Pilgrims 
so  laughed  at,  and  even  Christ  complacently  sneered 
at.     So  here's  at  thee ! ! ! 


112  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

To  J.  H.  Olmsted. 

[Undated.] 

Dear  John :  One  of  you  said  you  were  glad  I  had 
come  at  length  among  the  concrete  instead  of  the 
abstract.  The  great  thing  I  wanted  from  this  trav- 
elling was  a  greater  mixture  in  me  of  the  said  con- 
crete. Occasionally,  after  a  whirl  of  life  and  excite- 
ment a  few  weeks  here,  I  turn  back  to  my  old  self, 
and  try  to  see  whether  I  can  detect  any  difference- 
It's  strange !  I  believe  very  few  men  ever  travelled 
where  they  more  constantly  mingled  with  men  of 
every  class  and  character,  and  where  there  was  such 
a  continued,  absorbing,  practical  influence.  But 
upon  my  word,  there  is  not,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  the 
slightest  effect  whatever.  I  am  just  exactly  the 
same  abstract,  straight-to-the-mark,  simple-minded, 
coffee-loving  individual  which  I  ever  was,  and  I 
have  not  a  doubt  that  if  you  and  I,  just  one  hundred 
million  years  from  now,  should  meet  in  some  distant 
planet,  you  would  find  me  just  the  same  copy  of  a 
man  then,  with  some  slight  improvements  in  the 
stereotyping.     It's  almost  melancholy,  isn't  it? 

.  .  .  After  reading  your  letter  of  January  15th 
on  Slave  Law,  I  don't  understand  it.  I  can't  un- 
derstand it.  Does  Fred  think  so  ?  Do  all  good  men 
there  think  so?  Is  America  going  to  the  devil?  I 
am  not  disposed,  much  more  than  you,  to  the  instinc- 
tive philosophy.  I  usually  ride  a  metaphysical  idea 
to  the  death.  But  here  I  can't.  I  can't  see  any- 
thing in  the  metaphysical  view.  Your  analogies 
seem  remote,  possible,  metaphysical  things,  and  not 


/Et.  24]         LETTER  TO  J.   II.   OOISTEAD  113 

to  determine  this.  If  I  swore  to  the  Constitution 
in  New  Haven,  I  did  wrong.  I  don't  remember 
what  I  did  do,  except  hallo  and  smoke.  However, 
the  law  in  the  Constitution  was  a  null  affair,  and 
wasn't  at  all  like  this,  any  way.  .  .  .  You  say  "re- 
sponsibility rests  with  those  who  make  the  law." 
Oh,  John,  where  are  your  better  —  not  feelings,  or 
sympathies,  or  practice,  for  they  would  be  like  mine, 
but  tlioughts?  I  do  not  understand  it.  ...  I  have 
no  doubt  either  that  we  do  not  understand  one 
another,  or  that  one  of  us  is  morally  perverted ;  we 
could  not  disagree  so.  It  never  happened  before. 
"What  would  I  do?"  I  would  talk  and  write,  sub- 
scribe hard-earned  money,  and  take  the  "Indepen- 
dent," and  help  the  "Tribune,"  and  wait  and 
pray!  .   .   . 

But  pray  and  struggle,  you  and  M.,  and  God 
help  me  also,  for  what  more  and  more  rises  before 
me,  as  the  all-important  —  genial  love  and  sympathy 
for  men.  Oh,  may  your  home  and  mine  be  some- 
thing different  from  —  I  must  say  —  the  majority  in 
our  country!  May  there  be  a  warmth  and  light 
about  it,  such  as  cheers  at  once  even  the  stranger 
who  enters.  May  we  deny  ourselves,  for  years,  sen- 
suality and  display,  rather  than  that  there  ever 
should  be  a  want  of  time  and  of  means  to  make  our 
home  hours  happy  and  cheerful.  May  even  our  love 
within  it  be  so  little  selfish,  that  no  one  can  leave 
our  company  without  a  happier  heart.  Why  should 
the  everlasting  coldness  and  selfishness  stare  out 
from  our  thresholds  ?  But  I  am  looking  far  ahead, 
and,  alas,  young  men  always  criticise  with  great 
success ! 


114  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1851 

Feb.  6,  1851.  .  .  .  It's  very  evident  to  me  there's 
something  wrong  in  you  fellows,  though  I  cannot 
exactly  show  how.  Human  nature  is  never  so 
outrageously  good  or  bad  as  you  paint  it,  and  it 
can't  have  essentially  changed  in  New  York  since 
1849.  You  shut  yourself  in  your  shell,  and  then 
swear  because  it's  cold.  I  know  that  New  York  is 
the  materialist  place  in  our  country,  and  it  is  cer- 
tainly unfortunate  that  none  of  us  ever  gained  the 
position  in  society  there  that  we  had  in  New  Haven 
or  Hartford.  All  these  things  are  against  us.  Still, 
I  think  you  are  in  a  spiritually  dyspeptic  condition, 
or  you  have  had  so  much  of  the  coffee  of  sympathy 
in  Europe  that  you  can't  stand  your  present  milk 
and  water  diet.  .  .  .  You  are  making  too  much  of 
a  card  of  me.  I  shall  not  be  so  much  changed, 
apparently.  My  life  is  no  more  a  "flying  progress  " 
than  yours.  You  need,  for  your  development,  a 
regular  settled  study;  I,  more  of  this  sort,  though, 
after  all,  I  look  on  yours  as  the  more  solid,  and  I 
long  for  it,  steady  and  settled.  Though  I  have  an 
immense  tendency  to  this  kind  of  life,  too,  as  every 
one.  My  life  has  its  peculiar  evils,  as  yours,  and 
on  the  whole,  there's  everywhere,  I  suspect,  a  pretty 
fair  balance  —  only  work!  Don't  introspect.  Give 
it  up;  quit  the  Selbst-belauschen,  as  they  say  here 
(self-listening).  You  don't  need  it.  Throw  your- 
self in  real  God's  work,  if  it's  dissecting,  and  let 
self-improvement  go  for  a  while !  Queer  advice,  but 
good,  I  believe,  for  you.  When  we  ended  our  trip 
in  October,  it  struck  me  you,  of  us  all,  came  out 
much  (practically)  the  best.     Are  you  different  now  ? 

By  the  way,  speaking  of  "separating, "I  hold  my- 


^T.  24]  GERMAN  ABSTRACTION  115 

self  more  lit  for  friendship  than  ever  before,  even 
with  the  unworthy.  How  much  more  with  those  far 
more  than  worth}-.  It  seems  to  me  I  shall  have 
friends  innumerable  in  America  hereafter,  and  yet, 
yet,  to  find  a  friend  going  the  whole  hog  for  the 
Slave  Law.  There  are  enough  such,  aren't  there? 
Well,  perhaps  God  has  sent  some  of  us  here  to  fight. 
No,  John,  I  have  "had  a  higher  moral,  intellectual, 
religious  intercourse  "  with  people  in  America  than 
ever  in  Germany  or  England.  Though  the  principal 
reason  is  that  my  means  of  expression  are  so  much 
greater  in  English.  For,  after  all,  a  foreign  lan- 
guage always  shuts  one  out  from  a  large  range. 

Mr.  Brace's  cousin,  Mrs.  Gray,  wrote  to  him  dur- 
ing this  winter,  expressing  a  fear  that  he  was  living 
too  much  among  the  abstract,  unpractical,  German 
thinkers,  and  begging  him  to  remember  the  practical 
life  which  lay  before  him  in  America.  To  this  he 
replies :  — 

To  3Irs.  Asa  Gray. 

Berlin,  Feb.  6, 1851. 

Mt/  dear  J — ;  ...  I  see  you  have  a  somewhat 
wrong  idea  of  my  enjoyments  here  in  Germany.  I 
assure  you,  J — ,  if  anything  would  ever  make  one 
sick  of  German  abstraction,  it  is  the  miserable,  un- 
happy, utterly  unpractical  condition  of  things  here. 
Nobody  seems  to  know  what  liberty  is,  or  how  to 
hold  it  when  he  has  it.  No  one  has  any  clear,  strong 
power  of  managing.  What  I  liked  in  the  Germans 
was  other  qualities,  home  traits.     And  as  to  abstrac- 


116  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

tion  among  them  now,  there  is  little  of  it;  they  are 
altogether  too  much  absorbed  in  their  first  essays  in 
the  practical.  What  you  say  of  American  practi- 
cality I  agree  with.  But  you  must  remember  you 
haven't  seen  the  tremendously  material  side  of  Amer- 
ican life, —  the  New  York.  That  endless  whirl  of 
money-getting.  However,  I  go  in  for  the  practical, 
and  I  may  say  no  year  of  my  life  has  been  more  truly 
practical  than  this  last.  What  you  say  of  the  "  intro- 
spective "  tendencies  of  American  young  men  and 
women  may  be  true,  though  it  is  not  considered  so 
generally.  And  yet  I  have  met  no  circle  of  young 
people  in  any  land,  where  more  was  being  done  for 
the  good  of  men,  prfictically  and  steadily  and  often 
with  much  trouble,  than  by  some  of  those  very  "  in- 
trospective "  circles  in  the  States. 

.  .  .  My  ecstasies  over  your  father^  appear  to 
have  been  rather  premature,  though  what  he  did  do 
was  more  than  many  a  man  at  the  North  would. 
Perhaps  you  and  I,  Jane,  agree  in  this,  but  I  rather 
fear  not.  I  would  not  oppose  the  law,  but  I  would 
never  obey  it  while  God  preserves  my  reason.  I 
consider  it  as  one  of  the  most  unjust,  wrong  laws 
ever  passed  in  the  history  of  nations.  Of  course,  I 
consider  conscience  above  all  human  laws.  You 
say  it  is  "a  dangerous  doctrine  that  every  man's 
conscience  can  decide  on  the  law."  It  is  dangerous; 
but  it  is  a  danger  which  every  government  must  be 
exposed  to  while  it  governs  moral  beings.  And  the 
principle  I  state  is  the  one  on  which  our  nation  was 
founded,  and  our  Revolution  entered  on.     I  cannot 

1  Mr.  Charles  G.  Loring. 


^T.  24]  SECTARIAN  PREFERENCES  117 

understand  how  there  can  be  a  doubt  about  it.  It 
is  as  much  worse  than  holding  a  slave  as  can  be 
imagined,  and  even,  in  my  mind,  worse  than  captur- 
ing him  on  the  Guinea  coast.  For  by  his  running 
away  he  has  shown  himself  more  fit  for  freedom,  and 
many  difficulties  a  slave-owner  would  have  in  free- 
ing him  are  removed.  I  should  fear  to  die  with  such 
a  sin  on  my  soul  as  sending  a  free,  innocent  fugitive 
into  slavery.  And  all  tlie  Congress  laws  of  a  cen- 
tury could  not  make  me  innocent. 

Before,  this  slavery  has  rested  with  the  South. 
Now,  it  is  brought  home  on  our  free  Northern  shoul- 
ders. We  become  personally  responsible  for  the 
slavery  of  a  fellow-being.  And  I  had  rather  see  a 
dozen  Unions  broken  than  do  such  a  wrong. 

His  last  letters  from  Berlin  read  as  follows :  — 

To  F.  J.  Kingsbury. 

Berlin,  March  2,  1851. 
My  dear  Fred:  ...  In  reference  to  that  point 
you  spoke  of,  of  church-going,  I  hardly  know  what 
to  say.  It  seems  to  me  I  should  hardly  want  to 
fasten  myself  anywhere.  In  a  few  years  there  may 
be  great  reform  movements  in  our  sect,  which  you 
would  like  to  help  on,  and  which  you  could  not  so 
easily  if  you  had  decidedly  left  that  church.  Could 
you  not  attend,  as  you  have  done,  the  Episcopal,  for 
the  most  part,  but  without  really  engaging  yourself, 
or  making  any  stir  about  it?  For  myself,  I  think, 
on  the  whole,  I  like  the  Episcopal  form  of  worship 
the  best;  but  I  consider  our  church  constitution  and 


118  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

tone  of  thought  as  much  more  adapted  for  "prog- 
ress "  and  to  the  character  of  our  country,  and  I 
should  dislike  very  much  to  cut  myself  off  from 
connection  with  this  sect  in  their  forward  move- 
ments. You  seem  to  have  given  me  unlimited  carte 
blanche  to  write  about  vciy  "abstract  self,"  so  I  shall 
do  it.  It's  a  curious  thing,  but  one  considerable 
change  has  come  over  me.  Having  so  much  out- 
ward, and  being  continually  occupied,  I  have  half 
designedly  "cut"  self-examination.  I  hardly  know 
myself.  I  do  not  dream,  I  do  not  "  meditate  "  (in 
saintly  sense),  I  am  hardly  conscious  what  my  faults 
are  until  they  make  some  outrageous  inroad  into  my 
practice.  Not  that  I  am  more  practical,  but  less 
introspective.  The  strange  imaginings  which  really 
once  almost  inspired  my  life,  and  on  which  I  could 
truly  almost  be  an  ideal,  dyspeptical,  biographical 
saint,  I  have  let  for  a  while  pass  by.  Still,  to  a 
degree  they  are  real,  they  are  imaginings  founded 
on  what  we  know,  and  the  man  without  them  is 
imperfect;  but  they  are  only  part,  and  a  weak  part. 
How  I  should  like  to  meet  you  again  —  to  see  a  real 
sharp,  keen,  dry  man  again;  to  hear  a  joke;  to  be 
with  a  "  complex  character  "  once  more ;  to  get  sharp- 
ened and  filed  once  more;  to  laugh!  I  have  become 
unwieldy  and  rusty,  and  infinitely  "simplex." 
These  ideas  have  been  rather  forced  on  me  by  see- 
ing a  good  deal  lately  of  a  wonderfully  witty  fellow 
from  Harvard  College,  who  is  studying  for  a  profes- 
sorship in  Giittingen,  who  assimilates  perfectly  wher- 
ever he  is,  swears  and  jokes  now  in  German,  wears 
boots  up  to  his  thighs  and  dances  German  student 
hornpipe,  drinks  punch,  and  sings  German  songs  to 


^.T.  24]  LIFE   IN   BERLIN  119 

perfection.  .  .  .  This  fellow  —  his  name  is  Child  ^ 
—  is  visiting  two  fjiends  of  mine,  one  of  them  a 
Sanskrit  student.  "My  dear  Rig-Veda,"  he  says, 
"  if  you  can  notice  anything  less  than  two  thousand 
years  old,  won't  you,  etc.  ?"  .  .  .  My  winter  here  in 
Berlin  is  drawing  to  its  close  —  in  fact,  it's  over  in 
everything  but  the  cold  and  snow.  We  had  our  first 
snow  March  3d.  I  am  convinced  I  did  the  wisest  in 
coming  here.  I  have  studied  Prussian  manners  very 
thoroughly,  and  have  had  unexampled  advantages. 
Probably  no  diplomat  in  the  city  has  had  more.  I 
have  had  art  also  to  study,  and  almost  everything 
which  I  wished  for  the  intellect.  I  regret  two  losses, 
that  of  the  theatre  and  the  magnificent  concerts ; 
but  I  thought  if  I  could  not  afford  postage,  there 
were  very  few  things  I  could  afford,  and  except  a 
"  coffee-party  "  or  two  I  have  given  to  strange  friends, 
I  have  had  no  luxuries.  I  am  bound  to  say,  how- 
ever, Berlin  hasn't  been  as  satisfactory  in  the  matter 
of  the  heart  as  otherwise.  That  is,  I  have  made  no 
home  friends,  as  I  did  in  Hamburg,  though  I  have 
more  and  better  friends  than  I  have  in  New  York 
now.  Perhaps  there  is  something  in  a  large  city, 
perhaps  it  is  merely  accident,  but  there  are  so  many 
blocks  to  sympathy.  For  instance,  one  family  where 
I  eat  dinners,  and  talk  and  enjo}^  myself  very  much, 
does  not  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul! 
Another,  very  cultivated  indeed,  thinks  Republican- 
ism a  humbug!  In  another,  extremely  polite  to  me, 
and  where  I  enjoy  myself  much,  I  cannot  get  over 
the  impression  of  selfishness  connected  with  them. 

1  Professor  Francis  J.  Child  of  Harvard  University. 


120  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1851 

Perhaps  it  has  all  been  quite  as  well  for  me;  for 
lively,  intelligent  intercourse  will  almost  take  the 
place  of  friendship,  especially  when  one  has  such 
as  I  have  over  the  waters.  I  have  been  infinitely 
instructed  anyhow,  and  I  have  often  thought  this 
winter  there  were  very  few  things  in  the  world  I 
really  wanted  or  would  pray  for,  unless,  perhaps,  to 
get  rather  more  from  you  all  in  America. 

To  J.  H.  Olmsted. 

Berlik,  April  1,  1851. 

...  I  myself  am  decidedly  changing,  I  think, 
growing  stronger.  However,  time  will  show.  With 
the  bright,  warm,  spring  days,  come  old  dreams  and 
feelings  again.  It  is  positively  singular  how  never 
do  such  beautiful  thoughts  visit  me  as  when  walk- 
ing in  the  spring  sunlight.  The  sweet,  inexpressi- 
ble sensation  as  I  look  at  the  blue  sky,  of  a  sympathy, 
a  purity,  a  friendship  coming  to  us  after  a  few  years, 
such  as  the  heart  almost  bursts  to  imagine;  the 
thought  changing  with  it,  of  the  depth  and  awful- 
ness  of  life ;  the  vague  imaginings  of  acts  of  heroism 
and  self-conquest  and  nobleness,  the  press  of  mem- 
ories, and  that  solemn  lesson  of  the  past  which  never 
leaves  me,  of  the  sorrow  God  has  given  me;  the 
quick,  never-to-be  recalled  idea  of  a  boundlessly 
noble  and  loving  God.  ...  I  am  tired,  in  one 
view,  of  travelling,  this  tasting  and  sipping  of 
friendships,  and  then  never  seeing  either  liquor  or 
bottle  again.  I  look  for  deeper  pursuits  and  deeper 
friendships.     I  long  for  a  higher  progress  in  my  own 


iEx.  24]  LEAVING  BERLIN  121 

language,  and  for  beginning  more  lasting  work. 
But  I  am  convinced  I  am  doing  wisely.  I  shall 
strike  better,  for  the  exercise  now.  I  am  now  more 
vigorous,  I  know.  Less  than  ever  before  do  I  look 
forward  to  honor  or  comfort,  and  more  constantly  do 
I  rest  on  the  deep  idea  of  life.  .  .  .  To-morrow, 
my  last  Sunday,  I  dine  with  Curtius  and  his  hot- 
headed wife ;  we  part  with  real  respect  on  both  sides, 
I  think. 


CHAPTER  V 

Plan  of  going  to  Hungary — Prague  —  Vienna  Letters  —  Starts  for 
Hungary  down  the  Danube  —  Sentiment  for  Hungary  —  Journey 
to  Gross  Wardein  —  Imprisonment  —  Letters  from  Prison  — 
Release  —  Olmsted  Letters  —  Feeling  of  Austrian  Injustice  — 
Trieste  —  Liverpool  —  Return  and  Lectures  —  Book  on  Hun- 
gary—  Book  on  Germany  —  Episode  with  "  C." 

In  Mr.  Brace's  letter  to  Mrs.  Gray  he  tells  of  his 
plan  of  going  into  Hungary  in  the  spring, —  a  plan 
which  greatly  attracted  him,  and  was  made  possible 
by  the  help  of  his  friend,  John  Olmsted,  who  obtained 
for  him  the  position  of  correspondent  on  another 
paper.  He  had  originally  written  for  the  "  Indepen- 
dent" and  the  "Christian  Union."  At  this  time 
he  added  the  "  Philadelphia  Bulletin  "  and  a  little 
later  the  "New  York  Tribune."  His  friend  writes, 
"...  So,  Charley,  I  don't  see  but  your  die  is  cast, 
and  that  you  are  fairly  in  for  it,  and  that  the  prob- 
lematic Utopian  idea  of  Dr.  Bushnell  is  to  be  liter- 
ally fulfilled,  'Tell  him  to  travel  as  far  and  as  long 
as  he  can,  to  go  to  Russia  and  Siberia  if  his  legs  and 
his  purse  will  carry  him  there.'  "  And  F.  L.  Olm- 
sted had  written  in  January,  1851:  "If  you  could 
get  to  Hungary  and  really  know  the  people,  take  an 

122 


JEt.  24]  PRAGUE  AND  VIENNA  123 

unprejudiced  view  of  their  condition  and  character, 
learn  what  really  is  their  revolutionary  impulse,  it 
would  be  most  interesting  and  valuable.  For  my 
part,  I  really  am  anxious  to  get  some  advice  about 
that  people,  from  a  man  that  really  knows  some- 
thing about  them,  and  I  think  others  must  be."  So 
Charles's  much-talked-of  tour  began,  the  first  point 
on  the  journey  being  Prague,  which  had  ever  an 
immense  fascination  for  him.  "  It  was  a  beautiful 
sunny  spring  afternoon,"  he  writes,  "as  we  rushed 
over  the  railroad  bridge  at  Prague,  and  the  first  sight 
of  that  crowd  of  towers  and  Moorish  domes  and  tur- 
rets, as  they  rose  one  above  the  other  on  the  hillside, 
crowned  by  what  seemed  a  mosque  on  the  summit, 
or  stretched  away  on  the  other  bank  of  the  river 
among  the  multitude  of  houses,  was  very  striking. 
I  had  at  length  reached  the  antique  Bohemian  capi- 
tal, once  the  Paris  of  an  old  civilization,  and  now 
filled  with  monuments  which  make  it,  perhaps,  the 
most  interesting  city  of  Europe,  —  an  interest  which 
is  increased  by  the  strange  movements  of  which  it 
has  been  the  centre  during  the  last  few  years." 

Several  days  later,  as  he  approaches  Vienna,  he 
writes :  "  In  the  afternoon,  at  an  angle  of  the  road, 
we  came  suddenly  in  view  of  a  line  of  massive  blue 
mountains  in  the  distance.  Why  did  my  pulse  throb 
quick  at  the  sight?  They  were  the  hills  where  a 
nation  had  made  its  last  gallant,  unflinching  strug- 


124  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

gle  for  life.  The  first  glimpse  of  a  land  which  had 
always  seemed  too  heroic  and  dream-like  to  me,  that 
I  should  ever  see  it, — 

"  '  The  Carpathians!    Hungary! '  " 


To  J.  H.  Olmsted. 

First  night  in  Vienna,  April,  1851. 

My  dear  John:  .  .  .  Isn't  it  exciting?  Such  a 
feeling  of  utter  independence,  and  such  a  crowd  of 
ne'.Y  objects  to  see !  I  appear  to  be  in  a  broad,  hand- 
some street,  like  the  Boulevards,  with  large,  splen- 
did caf^s  and  billiard-rooms  and  beautiful  tables  in 
open  air,  where  gentlemen  and  ladies  are  eating  ices, 
and  in  one  some  handsome  fellows  with  red  caps, 
who  must  be  Greeks,  are  sitting,  and  I  have  met  a 
live  Turk,  too,  loafing  along  in  a  cool  manner;  and 
then  I  went  up  and  leaned  over  the  bridge  and 
watched  for  long  the  lights  on  the  shores  and  the 
current  of  the  old  river.  The  Danube  at  last,  the 
boundary  of  everything  to  the  Romans,  the  famous 
old  Father  of  Waters.  In  Vienna !  And  last  night 
talking  so  fast  with  those  two  dear  hearts,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  away  in  Prague.  Such  glorious 
days  as  I  have  had  in  Prague !  .  .  .  The  guide-book 
sights,  as  well  as  a  curious  experience  with  a  Catho- 
lic, you'll  hear  of  through  the  papers.  They  were 
most  interesting.  But  after  all,  I  must  confess  it, 
more  than  the  old  bridge  with  its  marvellous  statues, 
more  than  Huss's  pulpit,  or   Nepomuk's   statue,  or 


^T.  24]        CONTACT  WITH  THE  PEOPLE  125 

Wallenstein's  horse,  was  a  certain  pretty  woman  in 
that  city  of  Prague.^ 

April  20,  1851.  I  think  travelling  with  me  is 
done  up  in  its  best  forms.  I  have  little  of  the  anx- 
iety and  fuss.  And  I  now  get  right  down  at  once 
under  the  surface,  and  not  only  see  guide-book 
sights,  but  the  why  and  the  feelings  of  the  people. 
Such  an  unceasing  contact  with  interesting  people. 
.  .  .  You  have  only  a  few  minutes  with  them.  You 
can't  talk  trifles — don't  know  the  language  well 
enough.  You  are  fresh;  they  are  kindled  by  an 
intelligent  foreigner.  You  see  only  their  best  side. 
They  are  won  by  (American  ?)  frankness.  Everything 
adds, —  old  associations  around,  imagination,  sympa- 
thy, reality, —  and  you  have  an  explanation  of  the 
way  I  feel  sometimes.  Been  to-day  with  a  curi- 
ous, dark-browed  merchant,  who  talks  most  savagely 
about  Austrian  oppression,  and  revolution,  and  Hun- 
gary. Suspect  he  must  have  played  the  deuce  here 
in  the  last  revolution  —  seems  like  it  —  a  sort  of 
Parisian  revolutionist.  Been  with  keen,  intelligent 
professor,  who  unfolded  Austrian  new  education  sys- 
tem. Talked  with  a  genuine  Vienna  merchant  who 
evidently  couldn't  make  anything  of  me.  "  Lives  in 
lodging!  Don't  take  an  interest  in  theatre !  Going 
into  Hungary!  Evidently  a  gentleman!  What  the 
deuce  can  he  be?  " 

J  Professor  Curtius,  who,  with  Madame  Curtius,  had  been  the 
kindest  of  friends  to  Mr.  Brace  in  Berlin,  gave  him  a  letter  to  his 
brother  and  his  wife  in  Prague.  They  received  Mr.  Brace  with  the 
utmost  friendliness. 


126  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1851 

....  "Tribune!"  I  would  rather  write  for  it 
for  five  dollars  than  "Courier"  for  ten  dollars, 
and  won't  I  have  a  noble  audience  too!  How 
thankful  I  am  to  you !  My  friends  all  congratulated 
me  much  here.  But  I  am  very  anxious  to  begin  in 
Vienna.  Could  you  not  inquire  of  Dana  whether  it 
would  be  consistent  with  his  arrangement  for  me  to 
commence  letters  in  Vienna  ?  ( ^Vho  is  Dana,  by 
the  way,  and  liow  came  he  there  ?)  .  .  .  My  pros- 
pects are  capital.  Making  just  the  acquaintances 
in  Wien,  I  should  think;  however,  we'll  see.  Mag- 
yar noblemen  and  Irish  revolutionists  who  speak 
German,  and  will  put  me  through,  if  necessary,  with 
a  hand  to  hand  row  with  the  custom  officers.  How- 
ever, I  can't  tell.     I  must  get  in. 

.  .  .  These  Hungarians  here  are  very  modest, 
(all  students  and  revolutionists,  and  rich)  gentle- 
manly, intelligent  fellows,  the  best  specimens  I  have 
seen  of  the  nation;  promise  me  several  letters  of 
their  own  accord.  Everybody  here  thinks  me  cracked 
to  travel  in  Hungary,  and  I  begin  to  be  afraid  I 
sha'n't  see  much.  Hungary  here  is  like  a  wild  part 
of  Maine  with  us,  or  Ireland.  By  the  way,  I  mean 
to  have  my  last  days  in  Europe  at  Belfast  —  hey? 
.  .  .  All  looks  well  for  me.  Am  promised  some 
particular  introductions  to  prominent,  out  and  out, 
educated  Catholics,  as  a  young  man  who  wishes  to 
see  something  of  the  influence  of  that  religion  on 
the  educated  classes !  So  look  out!  You'll  have  a 
German  paper  soon  with  "Z^/e  merkwurdige,  plotz- 
liche  Bekehrung  eines  jungen  Protestantischen  Geist- 
liches  ! ' 

I  am  a  little  dissatisfied  about  my  apparent  relig- 


JEt.  24]  POWER  OF   CHRISTIANITY  127 

ious  condition.  However,  I  don't  know.  But  oh, 
to  be  purified  and  made  spiritual  more!  It  is  a  curi- 
ous fact,  however,  that  my  faith  increases  as  I  see 
humanity  and  the  people  without  religion  and  the 
Rationalists.  I  become  more  and  more  certain,  more 
pressed  through,  with  the  belief,  the  confidence,  that 
Christianity  is  from  God.  Which  is  verj^  delightful 
to  me,  for  a  man  of  very  great  strength  is  usually  in- 
evitably weakened  in  his  belief  of  a  matter,  when  all 
the  sensible,  kind,  intellectual,  distinguished  people 
he  knows  deny  it.  Yes,  Christianity  has  floated  every- 
thing else  in  history  —  governments,  philosophies, 
Rationalisms  —  like  straws  on  its  stream  thus  far. 
It  shall  sweep  broader  and  deeper.  And  we  may  let 
it  surely,  without  indulging  too  much  in  the  dream, 
pass  like  a  beautiful  vision  before  us ;  an  eternity  of 
sympathy  and  benevolence  and  purity  with  Him  and 
others.      True. 

Does  spring  bring  up  old  memories  to  you? 
There  is  an  appropriateness  which  "cant "  will  never 
destroy,  in  a  new  religious  life  (Revival)  in  spring. 
Is  spring  solemn  to  all  as  to  me,  I  wonder?  I  don't 
mean  solemn,  but  serious.  However,  little  can  be 
spoken  thereof.  I  have  been  thinking,  this  Sunday, 
of  how  utterly  my  life  and  my  Immortality  were 
probably  changed  by  your  (dream-like)  plan,  proposed 
on  a  dyspeptic  morning,  of  walking  through  Eng- 
land. Such  are  our  plans  for  life!  My  hopes  of 
steadily  working  for  men  are  much  more  cheery.  If 
I  cannot  preach,  I  have  now  a  pulpit,  I  hope,  through 
the  "Independent,"  and  I  can  throw  myself  into  any 
or  all  movements  for  the  poor  or  the  miserable. 
But  that  which  is  the  hardest  and  vital  thing,  can  I 


128  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

throw  the  infinite  influence  into  human  life,  of  a 
life  pure,  simple,  inspired  by  love,  self-forgetting? 
Can  you?  We  must  pray  for  it,  in  words,  in  trust, 
in  efforts.  My  prayers  are  each  day,  with  much 
trust,  for  you  all.     Oh,  God  give  us  Trust.''^ 

The  visit  in  Vienna  was  very  satisfactory,  and  his 
strong  sense  of  Austrian  oppression  and  cruelty  did 
not  prevent  his  finding  much  to  study  and  admire  in 
the  great  reforms  in  educational  matters  lately  begun. 
Early  in  May  he  obtained  his  passport,  and  started 
down  the  Danube.  Nothing  in  his  life  had  so  touched 
his  imagination  as  the  prospect  of  observing  this 
Hungarian  people.  Their  half  Oriental  character, 
the  remains  of  feudal  institutions  among  them,  side 
by  side  with  their  modern  tastes  and  development, 
attracted  him  strongly.  But  strongest  of  all,  even 
more  than  the  interest  in  seeing  the  effect  of  manu- 
mission from  serfdom  upon  the  peasants,  was  his 
half-romantic  but  wholly  real  sympathy  with  the 
Hungarians  in  their  then  late  struggle  for  freedom, 
the  Revolution  of  1848.  He  sees  a  fitness,  as  he  sails 
down  the  river,  in  the  "cold  storm  of  rain  beating 
across  the  steamboat,  through  which  one  could  dimly 
see  the  long  line  of  monotonous  willow  bushes  on 
the  banks,  or  the  melancholy  pine  forests  on  the 
hills.  .  .  .  The  whole  had  a  most  dreary,  desolate 
look,  in  unison,  one  could  not  but  think,  with  the 
sorrowful  and  gloomy  fortunes  which   had  settled 


^T.  24]        IN  THE  HEART  OF  HUNGARY  129 

upon  the  unfortunate  nation."^  The  journey,  from 
the  moment  of  delivering  his  first  letter  of  introduc- 
tion in  Pesth,  was  delightful.  To  J.  H.  Olmsted 
he  writes  from  Zolnok,  on  Ma}'  12th:  '''"''  Elj en  Pedes- 
tris  !  Eljen  dyspepticia  plcinae  !  '  Here  I  am  in  the 
heart  of  Hungary,  in  Zolnok,  going  to-morrow  to 
visit  a  Gutbesitzer  on  the  Theiss,  and  then  to  Debrec- 
zin  and  Gross  Wardein  and  Szegedin;  innumerable 
letters;  never  saw  such  a  people.  'Must  dine  with 
me, '  all  the  while  in  Pesth.  Talked  infinitely ;  such 
real  friendly  folk.  Spent  four  days  in  Pesth,  crowded 
full  of  thoughts  and  feelings ;  did  nothing  but  talk 
and  see.  My  brain  burns  yet,  but  I  cannot  say  any- 
thing here  —  you  know  why  —  amiable  Austrian 
habits.  Met  an  American  in  Wien,  like  me,  in 
business,  from  Williams  College,  who  had  been 
imprisoned  two  weeks  in  Bohemia,  so  you  under- 
stand. ...  It  has  been  a  market-day  here  (Sun- 
day), tall  Bauer  in  sheepskins,  with  fierce  musta- 
chios,  and  Indian-like  dignity.  Women  in  sailors' 
jackets  and  red  boots.  .  .  .  All  my  good  expecta- 
tions of  Hungarians  are  more  than  realized." 

In  a  lecture  delivered  in  later  years  at  home,  he 
tells  something  of  the  feeling  these  people  aroused 
in  him.  " .  .  .  It  was  my  fortune  to  visit  Hungary 
just  after  the  revolution.  It  is  an  interesting  though 
mournful  experience,  never  to  be  forgotten,  to  stand 
1  "  Hungary  iu  1851." 


130  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

by  the  death-bed  of  a  nation.  Here  was  a  people, 
educated  by  a  thousand  years  of  constitutional  lib- 
erty, having  risen  gradually  above  feudalism,  until, 
in  1848,  the  last  vestige  of  serfdom  and  caste  was 
swept  away,  accustomed  to  such  freedom  as  no 
country  in  Europe  but  England  has  enjoyed,  a  noble, 
gallant,  generous  race,  suddenly  trodden  down  under 
absolute  despotism.  Liberty  of  speech,  liberty  of 
the  press  gone;  .  .  .  national  schools,  national 
churches,  broken  up ;  the  old  language  even  forbidden 
in  public  documents,  and  the  dear  old  colors  of  the 
kingdom  outlawed;  the  favorite  songs  of  Hungary 
sung  —  as  were  the  songs  of  Zion  —  by  stealth  'in 
a  strange  land,'  under  fear  of  the  law;  the  fields 
wasted,  and  homesteads  burned;  the  prisons  filled 
with  suffering  patriots,  and  scaffolds  red  with  their 
blood.  Such  was  the  sad  picture  that  then  met  my 
eye." 

He  did  not  write  much,  not  expecting  that  his 
letters  would  be  permitted  to  pass  the  frontier.  We 
must  smile,  as  did  his  good  friends  in  America,  at 
the  very  evident  attempts  not  to  commit  himself  in 
the  one  letter  we  have  until  he  reaches  Gross  War- 
dein.  One  would  like  to  give  the  graphic  scenes 
from  the  journal,  afterwards  appearing,  with  notes 
enlarged,  as  "Hungary  in  1851,"  which  tells  of  long 
conversations  with  disaffected  Bauei\  drives  behind 
mad  horses  with  country  gentlemen,  peasant  homes 


JEt.  24]  GROSS   WARDEIX  131 

and  stately  castles,  all  enjoyed  Avith  such  a  freshness 
of  interest  and  sympathy.  But  we  must  go  on  to 
the  chief  incident  of  his  Hungarian  journey,  his 
imprisonment,  interesting  as  an  experience,  but 
doubly  full  of  interest  when  we  realize  that 
through  that  long,  lonely  period  of  homesickness 
and  hunger  for  all  that  made  life  beautiful  to 
him,  he  was  coming  to  know,  as  never  before,  what 
suffering  and  sorrow  and  sin  meant.  Nothing  more 
is  needed  than  his  letters  after  he  left  prison  to  show 
how  deeply  the  experience  sank  into  his  nature.  It 
is  interesting  that  the  letter  telling  of  some  of  his 
brightest  hours  should  be  dated  from  Gross  Wardein 
itself. 

To  J.  H.  Olmsted. 

Gross  Wardein,  May  23,  1851, 
My  dear  John :  After  a  ride  of  four  hours,  with  a 
Vorspann  of  four  horses  abreast  (furnished  gratis  as 
everywhere)  from  Debreczin  over  the  Puszta,  I  came 
upon  this  little  island  in  the  flat  prairie.  The  old 
gentleman  had  come  here  thirty-two  years  ago,  when 
this  was  as  flat  and  treeless  as  the  rest,  and  with 
incredible  patience  had  planted  and  enriched  and 
hillocked  and  laid  out,  until  it  is  a  true  English 
country  hall,  with  a  park  around.  A  bastion  runs 
around  on  the  outside,  and  there  you  look  off  on  the 
endless  prairie  as  on  the  sea,  except  that  on  one  side 
are  a  range  of  dirty  houses  for  the  workmen,  not  well 
screened.     Within,  however,  it  is   an   arbor.     The 


132  CHARLES  LORTNG  BRACE  [1851 

house  is  one  story,  with  an  immense  range  of  hand- 
some rooms.  I  am  in  the  furthermost  room,  where, 
as  in  all,  the  sofa  is  made  up  into  a  bed.  Every- 
thing very  comfortable;  servant  for  me  brings  me 
coffee  in  the  morning,  while  I  write;  ladies  do  not 
appear  till  eleven ;  then  we  walk  out  in  the  walks ; 
they  with  the  most  dashing  gypsy  bonnets  and  very 
neatly  dressed,  smoking  as  unconcernedly  as  F.  K. 
would.  Oh,  if  you  could  once  see  such  passionate, 
eloquent,  winning  creatures !  My  nerves  are  trem- 
bling yet  with  those  stormy  words,  as  they  speak  of 
their  country,  and  the  brave  and  the  noble  who  are 
gone,  and  that,  be  it  remembered,  in  a  foreign  lan- 
guage which  they  detest.  The  father  toasted  me  at 
dinner,  and  asked  God's  blessing  on  the  land  which 
had  so  nobly  sheltered  the  exiles,  and  told  me  to  tell 
the  Americans  that  the  Hungarian  who  would  refuse 
to  admit  an  American  to  hearth  and  home  and  every- 
thing he  had  was  not  worthy  of  the  name.  As  he 
spoke  of  the  exiles,  the  tears  came  to  every  eye.  .  .  . 
My  first  coming  was  trying,  right  into  that  great 
family,  but  in  one  and  a  half  days  I  made  immense 
progress,  visited  Bauer  houses  with  the  tutor  and 
ladies,  showed  the  father  what  he  must  do  to  come 
to  America.  Poor  man,  old,  and  in  the  place  he  has 
made  a  garden  from  the  desert,  but  he  cannot  live 
in  an  enslaved  Hungary.  I  smoked  with  the  daugh- 
ters, and  left  with  really  a  tremulousness  at  the  cor- 
dal  regions,  rather  remarkable.  The  like  of  such 
creatures  do  not  exist  out  of  Hungary !  This  is  one 
picture  from  my  life  now,  but  not  the  most  valuable ; 
those  I  dare  not  give. 

I  travelled  from  Roff  on  the  Theiss  to  Debreczin 


iEx.  24]  HUNGARIAN  LIVING  133 

through  the  genuine  specimens  of  Hungarians,  Avhere 
the  Honveds  come  from.  I  never  knew  what  human 
beauty  was  before.  Such  tall,  strong,  handsome  men 
as  one  sees  here.  The  manliest  people  I  ever  saw ! 
I  have  been  entertained  like  a  brother  everywhere, 
not  a  penny  since  Roff  for  carriage  or  lodging  or  any- 
thing but  my  own  presents  to  servants.  Now  in 
Gross  Wardein,  learning  much  all  the  while,  in- 
finitely well  treated,  my  best  ideas  realized  of  the 
Hungarians.  God  help  'em!  God  bless  you,  and 
may  we  do  something  for  poor  humanity ! 

P.S.  In  every  place  I  have  stayed  longer  than  I 
intended.  One  can't  get  away.  They  threaten  to 
use  the  good  old  Hungarian  custom,  to  take  the 
wheels  from  the  carriage.  The  Hune^arians  are 
amazingly  good  livers,  and  have  the  most  delicious 
light  wines.  You  should  taste  Tokay!  There's 
nothing  like  it,  yet  they  drink  very  little,  —  not  a 
third  as  much  as  the  usual  English, —  but  smoke! 
The  first  thing  one  sees  in  the  morning  and  the  last 
at  night  is  the  puff  from  the  cigar  or  pipe.  It's  a 
singular  nation!  I  didn't  suppose  existed  in  this 
age  —  so  of  the  Orient  and  the  Patriarchs.  I  have 
become  so  used  to  kissing  men,  that  I  shall  hardly 
know  how  to  kiss  a  woman.  I  am  here  in  Gross 
Wardein  with  a  professor.  The  boundless  enthusi- 
asm and  love  towards  Kossuth  is  wonderful  in  Bauer 
and  noble  alike.  More  anon.  The  police  of  Hun- 
gary is  inexpressibly  stupid.     Providence  blinds  her. 

"  The  police  of  Hungary  is  inexpressibly  stupid. 
Providence   blinds   her."     This,  scratched   over   in 


134  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

order  that  it  might  not  be  read  if  the  letter  fell  into 
unfriendly  hands,  must  have  been  written  on  May 
23d,  while  the  gendarme  was  searching  every  hotel 
and  lodging-house  in  the  city  of  Gross  Wardein  for 
him  !  As  he  was  visiting,  it  was  not  easy  to  find 
him,  but  finally,  in  the  midst  of  a  pleasant  din- 
ner at  a  cafe,  the  gendarme  appeared,  and  though 
he  politely  waited  while  Mr.  Brace  ate  two  plates 
of  Hungarian  pudding  and  finished  his  cigar,  they 
left  together,  and  went  to  the  house  where  he  was 
visiting  for  his  books  and  writings.  He  says  he 
could  not  but  smile  to  himself  at  the  idea  of  his 
papers  being  faithfull}^  examined  for  dangerous 
political  sentiments,  as  they  were  either  affectionate 
letters  from  friends  or  sentimental  and  religious 
effusions  of  his  own,  written  in  a  very  bad  hand,  and 
very  dull  to  any  one  but  the  author.  From  there  he 
was  taken  to  the  old  castle  outside  the  city,  for  tem- 
porary arrest,  on  the  charge  of  having  revolutionary 
matter  in  his  possession,  and  of  being  a  friend  of 
Uyhazy,  a  Hungarian  exile.  "As  we  rode  through 
the  heavy  old  arched  gateway  into  the  court  within," 
he  says  in  Hungary  in  1851,  "I  looked  around 
curiously  at  the  grim  walls,  and  could  not  but 
feel  a  momentary  heart-sinking  when  I  remem- 
bered how  far  I  was  from  friend  or  aid,  and  how 
many  a  hopeful  man  had  entered  such  a  prison  in  the 
Austrian  states  never  to  come  forth  again."      At 


^T.  24]         ARRESTED  AND  IMPRISONED  136 

first  he  was  put  with  the  common  prisoners,  but  even 
here  lie  contrived  to  learn  something.  Every  nation- 
ality was  there,  — a  Pole  and  an  Italian,  a  Jewish 
rabbi,  and  a  Frenchman  who  made  speeches  on  Democ- 
racy and  the  rights  of  man.  Self-opinionated  and 
rude  as  they  were, —  many  mere  soldiers, —  they  all 
met  on  the  ground  of  devotion  to  freedom.  "  When 
they  spoke  of  that,"  he  says  in  his  book,  "their 
thoughts  were  grand,  and  I  make  no  doubt  —  though 
some  of  them  had  been  living  there  for  years  —  that 
there  was  not  a  man  among  them  who  would  have 
bought  his  freedom  on  the  best  estate  in  Hungary 
for  a  betrayal  of  their  cause."  He  wrote  to  Vienna 
to  an  influential  man  he  had  met  there,  reminding 
him  how  ready  to  study  the  Hungarian  question 
from  both  sides  he  had  been,  how  he  had  borrowed 
books  of  Conservative  sympathies,  and  ending,  "In 
the  name  of  Christ,  our  Redeemer,  I  ask  your  aid 
for  a  stranger  in  distress.  .  .  .  Do  hasten,  for  it  is 
sad  work  rotting  here  in  prison  these  beautiful  days." 
His  prison  letters  read  as  follows,  and  are  given  in 
journal  form :  — 

To  Us  Father. 

In  prison.     June  8th,  Sunday. 
Here  I  am  in  a  room  with  six  others,  in  the  old 
castle,  after  two  weeks'  imprisonment.     The  Hunga- 
rian major,  of  French  origin,  is  delivering  a  histori- 
cal lecture  to  the  other  prisoners,  to  show  that  demo- 


136  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

cratic  principles  will  conquer,  and  France  stand  at 
the  summit  of  Europe.  A  strange  Sunday!  The 
prisoners  are  not  bad  fellows,  but  they  quarrel  fear- 
fully, and  discuss  even  more.  From  morning  till 
this  evening  has  been  a  continuous  din.  First,  we 
get  up  at  eight,  and  are  allowed  to  walk  out  in  the 
covered  alley  and  to  see  the  other  prisoners  for  an 
hour  or  two.  I  take  my  coffee  and  bread,  and  then 
walk  till  ten.  Then  read  my  Testament,  which 
luckily  has  been  given  me,  and  talk  and  study  a 
little  Hungarian  till  twelve;  then  we  all  eat  to- 
gether. I  had  my  dinner  at  first  from  a  tavern,  but 
this  is  much  cheaper,  only  costing  about  four  cents, 
—  with  which  I  have  a  half -bottle  of  wine  (three 
cents), —  and  is  really  healthy  and  good.  In  after- 
noon we  loaf,  talk,  sleep  till  six.  Then  our  great 
enjoyment  in  the  day  —  a  walk  of  an  hour  in  the 
open  air,  in  the  court,  between  two  soldiers  with 
fixed  bayonets.  Every  change  is  a  delight,  —  a  new 
prisoner,  a  strange  gendarme,  a  look  out  of  a  window 
where  there  are  no  board  barricades.  Sometimes  we 
stand  up  on  the  window-seat  to  get  an  outlook  on 
the  green  fields  and  vine-covered  hills  near  us.  I 
never  began  to  know  how  sweet,  how  beautiful,  is 
the  breath  of  free  air.  How  I  shall  enjoy  freedom 
again  when  out.  Oh,  to  be  able  to  stir  when  I  wish ! 
To  have  no  more  of  these  petty  officials  over  me! 
To  range  the  fields,  to  live  by  myself  or  with  those  I 
love  and  respect,  and  not  such  a  coarse,  quarrelling 
set!  To  meet  you  again,  and  my  friends  in  Amer- 
ica! Shall  it  be  that  I  lie  here  rotting  for  months, 
or  am  I  near  my  freedom  ?  The  worst  here  is  the 
night.     I   am  tormented  with  fleas,  and  my  body 


^T.  24]  PRISO:^  COMPANIONS  137 

looks  as  if  I  had  a  terrible  cutaneous  disorder.  On 
the  whole,  I  find  it  is  not  so  bad  as  it  might  be, 
though  miserable  enough.  However,  I  am  tolerably 
hardened  to  bodily  inconvenience ;  the  worst  is  the 
monotony,  a  protracted  sea-voyage,  and  the  sense  of 
villanous  injustice  in  me,  without  cause,  and  when 
I  cannot  helj)  myself.  There  is  much  very  interest- 
ing about  the  people  from  all  possible  nations, — 
Hungarians,  Wallachs, Poles,  Jews,  Italians,  French. 
They  all  have  their  good  traits,  and  I  get  along  well 
with  them.  The  major  is  a  cultivated  and  interest- 
ing man.  The  others  are  the  most  one-sided,  un- 
getalongable  set  I  ever  saw.  Self-opinionated  to 
the  verge  of  monomania,  quarrelsome,  though  not 
decidedly  bad-hearted,  rough,  coarse,  and  forever 
contradicting.  In  the  other  rooms  are  Catholic 
priests,  Protestant  clergymen,  ^awer,  country  squires, 
noblemen, —  all  for  revolutionary  misdeeds.  Under 
us  is  a  young,  fair  Grcifin  (countess)  imprisoned  on 
a  similar  accusation  with  me;  i.e.  being  in  corre- 
spondence with  emigrants  in  England  for  a  plot. 

You  know,  perhaps,  how  I  have  been  imprisoned 
with  an  absurd  accusation  of  being  an  emissary  of 
Uyhazy  and  Czetz  to  spread  revolutionary  move- 
ments. Uyhazy  I  never  spoke  to,  and  saw  but  once 
in  the  streets  of  New  York.  From  Czetz  I  have 
four  lines  of  introduction  to  a  friend  in  Pesth.  Not 
a  word  of  proof  was  found  in  my  writings  or  effects. 
But  in  them  a  revolutionary  (printed)  pamphlet,  and 
a  "  History  of  the  War  "  on  the  Hungarian  side,  with 
a  portrait  of  Kossuth.  This  told  against  me,  though 
it  is,  of  course,  no  proof  of  my  being  an  emissary. 
The  examination  was    throughout   unfair  and  one- 


138  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1851 

sided,  evidently  in  the  design  and  hope  of  convicting 
me.  I  know  well  my  offence  is  that  I  am  an  Ameri- 
can travelling  in  Hungary.  My  only  hope  is  in  the 
exertions  of  our  embassy  at  Vienna.  Mr.  McCurdy 
knows  well  I  am  no  emissary,  and  he  must  work. 
Of  course  I  have  heard  from  no  one  for  a  long  time. 
My  trust  in  God  fails  me  not.  I  know  He  is  with 
me  here,  as  elsewhere,  and  all  this  is  testing  and 
proving  me.  I  feel  His  presence  always,  and  I  am 
not  unha]3py,  and  pray  for  a  greater  purification,  and 
that  all  this  may  fit  me  for  a  better  life  among  men. 
God  be  with  you,  and  may  we  meet  here,  for  my  heart 
longs  to  see  you.     May  He  purify  us  all. 

June  11.  Things  look  better.  I  have  been  put 
in  a  better  room  with  two  or  three  very  agreeable 
gentlemen,  one  a  clergyman  who  was  sentenced  to 
the  gallows  at  first,  but  will  probably  only  have  a 
life's  imprisonment.  He  had  roused  the  people 
against  the  Austrian  government  in  the  war.  Of 
the  others,  one  is  a  landholder  who  is  just  come, 
arrested  because  he  said  "all  the  office-holders  were 
rascals  " !  I  am  told  privately  I  shall  be  out  in  a 
day  or  two,  that  something  has  come  from  Vienna. 
Probably  McCurdy  has  appealed  at  once  to  the  Min- 
istry. When  once  I  am  out,  I  will  never  let  the 
matter  rest  while  I  can  push  it.  I  will  have  satis- 
faction, justice,  from  the  Austrian  government,  if 
the  thing  is  possible.  If  McC.  does  not  press  the 
matter  with  the  home  government,  I  will.  Such  an 
outrageous  act  of  oppression  shall  not  be  left  unno- 
ticed, if  I  can  do  anything.     Think!  now  eighteen 


^T.  25]  TWENTY-FIFTH  BIRTHDAY  189 

days  in  a  miserable  prison,  on  such  an  accusation, 
and  such  proofs !  Confined  like  the  worst  Hungarian 
offenders,  "^miYors,"  as  the  Austrians  would  call 
them,  against  the  government.   .   .   . 

Saturday,  June  21,  1851.  I  little  thought  that 
my  twenty-fifth  birthday  would  be  in  an  Austrian 
prison.  But  so  it  is.  To-day  is  four  weeks.  Such 
imprisonment  and  such  treatment  on  such  proofs !  I 
have  been  treated  like  a  criminal,  like  a  dog,  and 
even  now,  after  all  the  examinations  of  my  acquaint- 
ances from  every  part  of  Hungary  have  come  in, 
always  strong  for  me,  after  McCurdy's  most  spirited 
and  patriotic  appeal  for  me,  and  the  command  of  the 
Ministry  for  my  immediate  release,  I  am  still  held 
here  in  prison.  I  have  heard  hints  that  violence 
might  be  used  against  me  in  secret,  but  I  do  not 
fear,  and  do  not  believe  them.  The  General  had 
said,  decidedly,  I  would  be  freed  to-day.  But  it 
does  not  come.  The  matter  looks  more  and  more 
serious  every  day. 

Mr.  Brace  had  found,  soon  after  entering  prison, 
that  a  priest  was  to  be  immediately  released.  The 
latter  consented  to  carry  in  the  lining  of  his  boots 
any  letters  Mr.  Brace  might  wish  to  send.  But 
communication  was  not  permitted  except  in  the  pub- 
lic hall  under  the  eye  of  the  soldiers.  How  could 
they  exchange  the  necessary  words!  The  ingenious 
priest  surmounted  the  difficulty  by  mingling  ques- 
tions with  his  "Ora  pro  nobis"  in  a  most  amusing 


140  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

way.  As  they  passed  and  repassed  in  their  walk, 
"What  did  3'ou  say  is  his  name?"  (In  louder  tones 
from  his  prayer-book)  "  O !  Maria  beatissime !  " 
Then  as  he  passed  again,  "Ora  pro  nobis!  Mac- 
Curdy^  did  you  say?  O  holdseligste !  Segnet  uns! 
O  sanctissime !  "  Thus  his  letters  were  taken  to  Mr. 
McCurdy,  American  Charg^  d'Affaires  at  Vienna. 
As  the  weeks  went  by,  Mr.  McCurdy  did  everything 
in  his  power  to  assist  Mr.  Brace,  going  or  writing 
every  day  to  the  Foreign  Office,  and  considerately 
writing  also,  every  day,  to  his  father. 

At  length,  after  thirteen  trials  by  court-martial, 
came  the  welcome  release,  and  he  went  forth  from 
the  dreary  castle,  though  even  then  not  as  a  free 
man,  for  he  had  to  bear  the  company  of  a  gendarme 
to  Pesth.  But  no  presence  of  gendarme  could 
lessen  his  first  delight  in  breathing  the  free  air 
again,  and  the  following  touching  account  of  his 
sensations  makes  one  realize  afresh  what  his  distress 
of  mind  had  been :  — 

"  Of  all  the  feelings  of  my  life,  if  I  live  a  hundred 
years,  I  shall  never  forget  that  exhilaration  of  de- 
light, as  I  rode  out  for  the  first  time  into  the  mild, 
soft  air  of  that  beautiful  June  night.  The  breath 
of  free  air  again,  the  sight  of  stars  and  clouds,  the 
rapid  movement,  the  new  hopes,  and  the  memory  of 
past  suffering,  the  stern  looking  forward  to  justice 
on  wrong,  the  thankfulness  infinite  for  my  deliver- 


^T.25]  RELEASE  FROM  PRISON  141 

ance,  all  worked  upon  my  mind  so,  that  I  was  in  a 
fever  of  excitement.  It  was  like  new  life  to  me. 
It  seemed  to  me  I  could  swim  in  that  delicious  at- 
mosphere. In  their  zeal  to  please  me,  they  had  let 
me  travel  as  I  pleased,  and  I  told  my  companions  to 
drive  on  all  night.  I  had  no  desire  to  sleep  or  rest. 
Thoughts  and  feelings  pressed  through  my  breast,  as 
I  have  never  even  imagined  before.  .  .  .  To  be 
whirling  along  in  the  free  air,  to  be  treated  in  some 
degree  as  an  honorable  man  again,  to  know  that  I 
was  hastening  on  towards  those  who  trusted  and 
loved  me,  and  that  I  was  getting  nearer  the  great 
routes  of  travel,  where  sudden  deeds  of  dark  injustice 
could  not  so  easily  be  done, —  all  this  filled  me  with 
such  exhilarating:  feelings  as  one  can  never  have  a 
second  time  in  his  life.  But  I  did  not  feel  entirely 
secure.  I  had  not  the  least  shadow  of  confidence 
in  the  honor  or  the  justice  of  the  Austrian  authori- 
ties. The  prison  had  revealed  too  many  an  iniqui- 
tous deed."i 

The  distress  of  his  friends  at  home  may  be  imag- 
ined as  time  went  on  without  bringing  his  release, 
which  at  first  they  had  expected  in  a  day  or  two. 
Mr.  Frederick  L.  Olmsted  writes :  — 

"  We  have  heard  of  your  arrest,  but  no  particulars, 
and  are  in  a  considerably  excited  state  of  commisera- 
tion, anxiety,  and  indignation.  I  shall  write  a  little 
on  the  supposition  that  you  are  not  hung,  the  possi- 
bility of  which  has  kept  me  awake  some  o'  nights. 

1  "Hungary  in  1851." 


142  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

If  you  do  get  off  whole,  you  will  be  well  paid  for 
any  privation  and  anxiety  you  have  had  by  the  honor 
of  the  thing.  As  far  as  mere  formal  honors  go,  I 
don't  know  many  that  would  be  so  prepossessing  to 
me  as  to  have  it  said  of  me  that  I  had  been  a  pris- 
oner of  the  Austrians  —  a  military  prisoner  —  to  be 
tried  by  a  court-martial.  He  is  pretty  certainly  a 
true,  brave,  and  good  man.  ...  I  anticipate  your 
most  interesting  letters  now,  describing  Austrian 
prison  discipline  —  size  of  your  cell,  weight  of  your 
chain,  etc. ;  your  conversations  with  your  keeper; 
how  you  were  fed;  the  visits  of  the  chaplain,  and 
the  theological  student  amateurs  a  la  Blackwell's 
Island,  etc.,  etc." 

John  Olmsted  writes :  — 

"I  wish,  for  various  reasons,  I  knew  whether 
you  were  in  or  out  of  confinement.  One  doesn't 
like  to  adopt  the  same  style  towards  a  friend  who 
has  been  for  two  months  in  a  damp  dungeon  on 
bread  and  water,  beating  his  head  in  vain  against 
the  walls,  and  cursing  his  fate,  and  ignorant  whether 
he  has  friends  or  not,  as  to  an  individual  kicking  up 
his  heels  in  sunny  Italy,  eating  grapes  and  figs,  and 
thinking  what  a  pleasant  adventure  it  was  to  be 
shown  the  inside  arrangements  of  an  Austrian  guard- 
house for  a  couple  of  nights  a  month  or  two  ago." 

And  again,  on  July  8th :  — 

"So  our  sympathy  is  with  at  least  three  weeks' 
imprisonment,  and  a  military  trial,  with  dreary 
enough  forebodings.      Oh,  that   we  could  do  some- 


iEx.  25]  RETURN  TO  VIEKNA  143 

thing  for  you!  This  impotence,  and  your  silence, 
and  the  vacmeness  of  the  whole  information  is 
most  painful.  I  can't  but  trust  that  long  before 
this  you  are  free.  Yet,  good  God!  look  at  the 
possibilities!  If!!  I  should  rather  look  upon  you 
as  one  Avho  had  been  lost  at  sea,  merely  vanished, 
forever  silent.  But  it  would  light  up  a  sympathy 
with  the  oppressed  by  despotism  that  would  lead 
to  deeds,  to  anything  that  Providence  and  reason 
allowed.  Life  would  be  real  dreary  with  you  never 
again  by  me,  and  no  looking  forward  to  you, 
Charley;  with  no  exaggeration  or  affected  feeling. 
In  prison  or  out,  my  hearty  prayer  is  that  God  will 
use  you  for  His  own  purposes,  in  furthering  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  upon  earth.  .  .  .  We  do  long  to  see 
you!  Be  firm,  true,  unabashed  as  innocent,  and  a 
martyr  if  necessary.  God  be  with  you  —  with  us! 
That  it  may  please  Thee  to  succor,  help,  and  com- 
fort, and  to  show  Thy  pity  upon  all  prisoners  and 
captives.  We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  Lord. 
Amen." 

Mr.  Brace  returned  to  Vienna,  but  his  next  letter 
to  his  father  shows  his  growing  indignation  at  the 
only  partial  freedom  he  is  permitted  to  enjoy. 

To  his  Father. 

Vienna,  July  5,  1851. 
Dear  Father :  Free,  thank  God !     I  send  you  prison 
thoughts  written  in  that  cursed  place.     As  soon  as  I 
reached  here,   I  was  ordered,   by   police,    to   leave 


144  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

Austria  in  three  days!!!  I  asked  him  [the  officer] 
if  he  would  take  the  responsibility  of  such  an  order 
after  I  was  adjudged  innocent.  "No,  he  was  so 
commanded,"  etc.  I  laid  the  matter  before  Mc- 
Curdy,  and  he  to  the  Ministry,  in  a  well-put  note, 
inquiring  "if  anything  new  had  occurred?"  and 
driving  them  into  a  dilemma.  No  answer;  and 
police  withdrawn  the  order!  Mr.  McC.  has  acted 
nobly  and  man-like,  worthy  of  the  representa- 
tive of  a  great  nation.  I  owe  him  many,  many 
thanks.  Without  him  I  might  have  been  lying  there 
yet.  These  prison  notes  were  brought  out  in  my 
hoots.  Don't  publish  them,  as  I  wish  to.  I  hope 
the  government  will  never  leave  such  an  abominable 
injustice.  It  cries  for  punishment.  Write  soon. 
God  bless  you !  Tell  John  I  cannot  write  for  some 
time.     Justice  first.     All  well  in  health,  etc.,  etc. 

But  there  were  also  happy  moments,  and  one  pic- 
ture of  a  peaceful  afternoon  at  Pesth,  in  the  midst  of 
this  time  of  burning  indignation  is  well  worth 
inserting  from  his  book. 

"As  soon  as  I  could,  with  several  of  my  friends 
in  company,  I  walked  out  to  the  house  of  an  Eng- 
lish missionary,  Mr.  W.,^  living  without  the  town; 
a  gentleman  who  had  been  most  active  in  his  efforts 
for  my  liberation.  They  tried  to  disguise  me,  in 
order  to  prepare  a  surprise  for  him,  but  he  recognized 
me  at  once  from  a  distance,  and  hailed  me  as  '  the 
emissary,'  and  hastening  to  meet  me,  forgetting  his 

1  One  of  the  missionaries  banislied  by  the  Austrian  government. 


^T.  2r.]       UNDER  POLICE  SURVEILLANCE  145 

English  coldness,  he  threw  his  arms  around  my  neck 
as  if  I  had  been  his  son.  At  the  house,  on  the  bal- 
cony, we  found  a  real  English  tea-table,  spread  with 
bread  and  butter  and  tea,  in  home  style,  and  a  lady 
was  there  to  Avelcome  us  in  English.  How  shall  I 
ever  forget  that  evening,  so  rich  in  deep,  happ\ 
feelings!  The  scene  w^as  one  never  to  be  forgotten. 
The  sun  was  just  setting,  and  the  rich  rays  poured 
down  into  the  whole  valley  of  the  Danube,  which 
lay  at  our  feet,  gilding  with  glowing  light  the  line 
buildings  of  Pesth,  and  the  summit  of  the  old  for- 
tress of  Ofen,  while  it  left  the  side  towards  us  in 
dark  shadow.  The  colors  changed  each  instant  on 
the  clouds  above,  becoming  more  and  more  gorgeous. 
And  as  the  sun  went  down  behind  the  Ofener  moun- 
tains, there  seemed  to  be  almost  endless  vistas  of 
splendid  coloring  opening  beyond.  We  all  felt  the 
scene  with  an  awe  and  happiness  not  to  be  spoken 
in  words.  And  as  the  old  missionary  called  us  to 
the  table,  and  uncovering  his  gray  locks  thanked  Him 
who  had  made  all  this  for  His  goodness,  and  that 
He  had  brought  their  friend  back  again  from  danger 
and  suffering,  I  joined  with  a  thankfulness  not  to  be 
described.  And  as  he  prayed  for  '  the  unhapj^y 
land,'  and  that  'the  ends  of  justice  might  everywhere 
be  furthered,'  I  resolved  inwardly  that,  God  willing, 
my  efforts  should  never  fail,  while  I  had  strength 
to  give  them,  for  the  oppressed  in  any  land."^ 

He  was  not  freed  from  the  espionage  of  the  gen- 
darme until  he  reached  Trieste,  whence  he  travelled 

1"  Hungary  in  1851." 


146  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

to  Rome,  and  then  back  to  England,  where  he  was 
hospitably  entertained  in  Liverpool  by  his  friends, 
Mr.  William  Neill  and  Miss  Letitia. 

"  William  Neill  here  heard  of  my  stress,"  he  writes, 
on  October  17th,  to  his  friend,  John  Olmsted,  "and 
like  a  trump  sent  me  a  ten-pound  note  which  gave 
me  a  new  coat  (one  pound,  one  shilling,  and  three 
pence)  and  vest  (twenty-four  shillings),  and  sent  me 
here  at  once.  ...  I  live  at  the  Neills',  and  board 
in  a  delightful  coffee-house,  and  appear  like  a  gen- 
tleman once  more.  All  the  while  with  Miss  Letitia 
(no  danger),  delightful  sisterly  friendship,  and  walks 
and  talks.  My  trials  in  London  with  the  greasy, 
worn,  seedy  coat,  in  society,  would  make  you  laugh 
your  eyes  out.  People  ivould  see  it,  and  u'ould  make 
me  play  chess  where  all  could  look  down  and  in- 
spect. I  had  to  dine  and  toast  and  be  sketched  and 
talk  in  a  dress  like  that  Irish  doctor  on  our  ship. 

"  I  shall  sail  on  November  1st,  and  go  to  Belfast 
to-morrow,  live  in  the  family,  write,  etc.,  and  enjoy, 
and  wait  for  money." 

His  European  correspondence  comes  to  a  fitting 
close  in  the  following  letter  to  Miss  Baldwin:  — 

London,  Oct.  5,  1851. 

My  dear  Miss  Baldwin :  I  suppose  many  of  my 
friends  were  almost  surprised  at  such  a  quiet  man 
as  myself  making  such  a  noise  about  the  affair. 

If  it  had  been  a  mere  matter  of  personal  pique  and 
inconvenience,  I  should  have  dropped  it,  as  I  have 


JEt.  2n]  AUSTRIAN  OPPRESSION  147 

the  cheating  of  Italian  waiters  or  anything  else  of 
the  kind.  In  fact,  to  ray  personal  feelings,  that 
would  have  been  pleasanter.  But  it  seemed  a  ques- 
tion of  universal  justice,  and  it  seemed  an  especially 
good  opportunity  of  revealing  the  Austrian  system 
in  an  open  wrong.  The  oppression  they  were  exer- 
cising on  a  nation  happened  to  be  shown  on  me. 
And  I  had  hoped  our  government  would  rebuke  it, 
perhaps  chastise  it.  I  hope  you  and  other  old  friends 
have  understood  me  well  enough  to  know  there  was 
no  petty,  private  resentment  in  my  motives.  It  is 
curious  to  me  to  find  that  in  England  and  through 
our  Diplomatic  Corps  in  Europe,  the  affair  has  found 
more  sympathy  and  caused  more  indignation  than  in 
America.  I  suppose  international  rights  are  very 
little  understood  in  the  States,  and  the  importance 
of  our  position  as  a  Power  ready  to  protect  its  citi- 
zens, not  so  much  appreciated  at  home  as  here.  I 
do  very  much  hope  I  can  do  something  yet,  for  the 
cause  of  the  oppressed  in  Europe,  and  strike  another 
blow  at  Austria. 

All  talk  of  "  oppression  "  and  "  tyranny  "  sounds,  I 
suppose,  to  you,  Miss  B.,  a  little  Fourth-of- July- 
like. But  if  you  could  once  be  under  it  —  which 
may  Providence  prevent  —  or  mingle  with  those  who 
are  suffering  from  it,  you  would  not  be  surprised  at 
my  expressions.  I  cannot  speak  or  write  one-tenth 
of  what  I  feel.  People  would  think  me  crazy.  But 
I  do,  I  must,  till  I  die,  feel  for  the  oppressed,  like 
one  who  has  shared  their  dungeons  with  them. 
"When  I  forget  them,"  I  say  to  m^-self,  — though  I 
do  not  need  to  say  it, —  "  may  God  forget  me !  "  Upon 
my  word,  I  turn  over  a  paper  and  read  of  a  new  de- 


148  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1851 

feat  of  the  "  Liberals  "  of  Europe,  as  you  would  a  list 
of  misfortunes  among  your  friends,  or  your  father  a 
series  of  disasters  among  the  Whigs. 

Well,  what  a  sober,  political  document  I  am  writ- 
ing to  you !  But,  after  all,  could  I  show  my  confi- 
dence and  friendship  better  than  by  writing  of  what 
most  is  interesting  me  ? 

Immediately  upon  Mr.  Brace's  return  to  New 
York,  the  "Kossuth  fever,"  as  he  calls  it,  took  com- 
plete possession  of  him.  He  lectured  on  Hungary, 
and  wrote  daily  on  the  book  which  was  to  tell  of  his 
experiences  there,  and  would,  he  hoped,  arouse  pub- 
lic sympathy  with  the  oppressed.  How  absorbed  he 
was  we  learn  from  the  following  paragraph  in  a  let- 
ter to  Mr.  Kingsbury :  — 

"  Sorry,  but  cannot  help  it.  I  am  a  patent  writ- 
ing machine  now,  have  forgotten  my  friends,  my 
country,  m}'-  dinner,  for  a  few  weeks,  till  The  book  is 
finished.  Work  from  8  A.M.  to  12  p.m.,  with  inter- 
ludes of  lager  beer  and  theological  discussions.  Shall 
do  it  up  by  the  end  of  next  week,  perhaps  before." 

In  July  he  writes  to  his  father :  — 

"...  I  had  a  long  confidential  interview  with 
Kossuth  two  weeks  ago.  He  said  my  book,  etc.,  had 
done  more  for  him  than  any  other  thing;  unfolded 
his  plans,  etc.,  etc.,  and  left  with  me  every  favorable 
impression  deeply  strengthened  —  of  genius,  patriot- 


^T.  25]     BOOKS  ON  HUNGARY  AND  GERMANY     149 

ism,  sincerity,  and  of  a  loving  and  ideal  nature. 
Thanked  me  again  at  close  of  interview,  and  shook 
hands  warmly.  .  .  .  What  do  you  say  to  my  '  Trib- 
une '  letters  on  Vagrant  Schools  ?  " 


His  book  on  Hungary  was  published  in  April, 
1852,  the  first  edition  of  two  thousand  volumes  sell- 
ing easily,  and  favorable  reviews  appeared  in  the 
London  " Athenteum,"  "Spectator,"  and  "Econo- 
mist." Although  tired  of  travel- writing,  he  fol- 
lowed it  the  next  year,  with  an  account  of  his 
German  experiences,  published  under  the  title 
"Home  Life  in  Germany,"  of  which  he  says  in  the 
preface : — 

"I  have  tried  to  give  a  true  picture  of  German 
home  life,  and  all  will,  of  course,  draw  their  own 
conclusions.  But  I  do  not  hesitate  to  confess  that 
a  definite  purpose  has  been  before  me.  It  has  seemed 
to  me  that  in  this  universal  greed  for  money,  in  this 
clangor  and  whirl  of  American  life,  in  the  wasteful 
habits  everywhere  growing  up,  and  in  the  little 
heed  given  to  quiet  home  enjoyment,  or  to  the  pleas- 
ures from  art  and  beauty,  a  voice  from  those  calm, 
genial  old  German  homes  might  be  of  good  to  us ; 
telling  of  a  more  simple,  economical  habit,  of  sunny 
and  friendly  hospitalities,  of  quiet,  cultured  tastes, 
and  of  a  home  life  wliose  affection  and  cheerfulness 
make  the  outside  world  as  nothing  in  the  compari- 
son," 


150  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1852 

Another  episode  in  Mr.  Brace's  life,  interesting 
because  drawing  a  good  deal  of  attention  and  criti- 
cism on  him,  but,  happily,  ending  quite  satisfacto- 
rily, even  to  the  extent  of  making  good  friends  of 
Mr.  Brace  and  him  whom  we  shall  call  C,  the 
name  he  went  by  in  the  correspondence, —  belongs 
to  the  period  of  his  first  return  to  New  York.  The 
young  reformer  came  home,  fired  with  the  desire 
to  impart  something  of  German  geniality  into  the 
severe  New  England  homes  he  knew,  feeling  that 
the  "home  life"  he  loved  in  Germany  was  needed 
here,  that  the  New  England  habit  of  silent,  hurried 
meals,  and  extreme  gravity  upon  the  Sunday  were 
far  from  the  true  Christian  ideal.  This  he  wrote, 
with  much  more  upon  the  subject,  when,  to  his  utter 
amazement,  it  called  forth  a  vituperative  letter  in 
the  "Independent"  (the  paper  for  which  he  wrote), 
saying,  among  other  things,  that  this  young  man 
with  German  ideas  was  never  so  happy  as  when 
under  the  table  with  his  boon  companions,  drunk! 
Showers  of  letters,  intensely  for  or  against  his  views, 
came  to  "C.  L.,"  and  one  to  the  "Independent," 
saying  that  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  "holy  war- 
fare." 

One  cannot  wonder  that  the  orthodox,  in  a  com- 
munity which  believed  so  firmly  in  the  efficacy  of 
"revivals,"  were  startled  by  a  statement  like  the  fol- 
lowing:   "More  to  me   than  a  revival  of  religion 


JEt.  25]     FAMILY  LIFE  HERE  AND  ABROAD         151 

would  be  a  revival  of  the  home  life."  But  long 
letters  to  the  "Independent,"  from  which  we  shall 
quote  a  few  sentences,  reveal  that  his  views  were 
not  so  dangerous  as  they  at  first  appeared :  — 

"  On  returning  home  from  abroad,  I  was  struck 
with  the  want  exhibited  throughout  family  life  here 
of  healthy  cheerfulness,  of  sociality,  geniality,  and 
the  more  tender  and  kindly  expressions  of  affection. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  in  the  German  and  Irish  homes 
I  had  visited,  the  religious  principle  expressed 
itself  more  in  these  kindly,  pleasant,  social  ways; 
more  in  the  petty  self-sacrifices  and  attentions  of 
everyday  life,  than,  as  with  us,  in  the  grander 
efforts.  .  .  .  The  great  sacrifice  of  self  —  one 
which,  in  my  view,  demands  far  more  real  moral 
power  —  is  in  the  common  affairs  of  everyday  life. 
To  yield  our  own  comforts  and  habits,  that  we  may 
welcome  or  cheer  a  friend,  to  restrain  moroseness 
and  unsociality  that  we  may  join  in  others'  pleasure, 
to  forget  our  own  selfish  plans,  in  order  to  share  a 
stranger's  feelings  ...  in  these  ways,  more  truly 
than  in  occasional  acts  of  heroism,  or  in  the  formal 
duties  of  religious  life,  is  manifested  the  great  princi- 
ple of  Christ's  self-sacrificing  love.  This  is  the  'new 
piety '  which  many  among  us  would  see  more  devel- 
oped in  Christian  men.  It  is  not  new;  it  is  the 
piety  of  Arnold  and  Melancthon  and  John ;  it  is  old 
as  Christ.  With  this  manifested  through  the  whole 
Christian  community,  as  it  has  been  in  a  few  in  all 
ages,  many  of  the  old  'stumbling-blocks  '  of  religion 
would  be  taken  away." 


152  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1852 

The  tempest  subsided,  and  his  father  wrote :  "  I  see, 
bj  to-day's  '  Independent, '  that  C.  had  his  backers 
a£  well  as  C.  L.  It  is  well  that  the  controversy  has 
stopped,  otherwise  it  might  have  divided  the  church, 
and  been  a  test  for  orthodoxy  and  heterodoxy." 


CHAPTER  VI 

Decision  to  enter  Philanthropic  Work  —  Efforts  among  Adults  — 
Boys'  Meetings  —  Insufficiency  of  These  Efforts  —  Organization 
of  Children's  Aid  Society —  First  Circular  —  Immediate  Response 
of  Children  —  Workshops  —  Letters  in  Children's  Aid  Society  — 
Failure  of  First  Effort  —  Workshops  —  Industrial  Schools  — 
Need  of  Outside  Help  in  starting  Schools  —  Objection  to  Raffles, 
etc.  —  Organization  of  Fourth  Ward  Schools  —  Homeless  Boys  — 
Lodging  House  —  Wliat  to  do  with  the  Homeless  —  Emigrat  on 
versus  Asylums  —  Difficulties  —  Immediate  Success  of  Effort  — 
Miscellaneous  Letters 

Mr.  Brace  returned  to  New  York  with  the  inten- 
tion of  beginning  immediately  upon  some  course  of 
work  for  the  unfortunate  in  our  great  city,  but  the 
form  it  was  to  take  was  not  clearly  defined.  He  still 
had  thoughts  of  preaching,  but  was  growing  more 
and  more  to  feel  that  it  was  not  in  the  direction  of 
a  pastor's  work,  but  rather  in  that  of  a  city  mission- 
ary, that  his  usefulness  would  lie.  He  joined  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Pease  in  the  Five  Points  in  his  devoted 
labors  among  those  grown  old  in  sin,  and  he  made 
an  occasional  visit  to  Blackwell's  Island,  feeling 
his  way  into  a  more  thorough  understanding  of  the 
conditions  he  wished  to  ameliorate.  In  the  spring 
of  1852,  he  says  to  his  father:  "If  I  am  only  a  city 

153. 


154  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1852 

missionary  with  two  hundred  dollars  a  year,  or  any- 
thing else  mean,  but  really  doing  good,  you  should 
be  contented.  I  don't  care  a  straw  for  a  city  pas- 
tor's place.  I  want  to  raise  up  the  outcast  and 
homeless,  to  go  down  among  those  who  have  no 
friend  or  helper,  and  do  something  for  them  of  what 
Christ  has  done  for  me.  I  want  to  be  true  —  true 
always.  Not  orthodox,  or  according  to  any  one 
school  or  sect,  but  to  follow  my  own  convictions  of 
truth.  So  did  Christ."  And  in  support  of  this 
position  he  says  elsewhere  in  the  same  letter:  "I 
bear  in  mind  that  there  was  never,  apparently,  a 
greater  failure  than  Christ's  own  life." 

But  a  few  months'  experience  convinced  him  that 
the  effort  to  reform  adults  was  well-nigh  hopeless, 
and  he  next  turned  his  attention,  with  a  few  other 
public-spirited  men,  to  the  boys.  They  organized 
"Boys'  meetings,"  as  they  were  called,  to  be  held  on 
Sunday  evenings,  and  designed  to  draw  the  roughest 
class  of  loafers  from  about  the  docks,  and  to  reach 
and  influence  them  by  stories  and  allegories. 

It  is  an  old  story  now,  the  attempts  to  reach  those 
wild  hearts  through  eloquence  and  preaching,  but 
then  it  was  all  new  ground.  It  could  not  long  be 
satisfactory  to  those  who  were  aiming  at  a  moral 
reformation  which  should  affect  the  whole  lives  of 
the  boys,  but  it  had  its  small  fruits,  and  even  after 
some  stormy  opening  of  a  meeting,  there  would  come 


^T.  25]  "BOYS'  MEETINGS"  155 

moments  when  the  speaker  knew  he  was  not  speak- 
ing in  vain.  Mr.  Brace,  in  his  book  "  The  Danger- 
ous Classes  of  New  York,"  says:  "Whenever  the 
speaker  could,  for  a  moment  only,  open  the  hearts 
of  the  little  street-rovers  to  this  voice,  there  was  in 
the  wild  audience  a  silence  almost  painful,  and 
every  one  instinctively  felt,  with  awe,  a  mysterious 
Presence  in  the  humble  room,  which  blessed  both 
those  who  spake  and  those  who  heard." 

The  knowledge  gained  at  "Boys'  meetings,"  as 
well  as  through  efforts  among  adults,  was  lead- 
ing Mr.  Brace  to  a  conviction  that  nothing  could 
avail  with  the  little  vagrants  of  New  York  except  a 
thorough  reformation  of  character,  brought  about  by 
and  under  changed  conditions.     He  says:  — 

"The  'Boys'  meetings,'  however,  were  not,  and 
could  not  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  a  permanent 
success.  They  were  the  pioneer  work  for  more  pro- 
found labors  for  this  class.  They  cleared  the  way, 
and  showed  the  character  of  the  materials."  In 
speaking  of  the  efforts  to  reform  adults,  he  says  in 
his  book.  "It  was  a  Sisyphus-like  work,  and  soon 
discouraged  all  engaged  in  it.  .  .  .  What  soon 
struck  all  engaged  in  these  labors  was  the  immense 
number  of  boys  and  girls  floating  and  drifting  about 
our  streets,  with  hardly  any  assignable  home  or  occu- 
pation, who  continually  swelled  the  multitude  of 
criminals,  prostitutes,  and   vagrants.  ...     It  was 


156  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1858 

clear  that  whatever  was  done,  must  be  done  in  the 
source  and  origin  of  the  evil  —  in  prevention,  not 
cure.  The  impression  deepened  both  with  those  en- 
gaged in  these  benevolent  labors  and  with  the  com- 
munity, that  a  general  organization  should  be  formed 
which  should  deal  alone  with  the  evils  and  dangers 
threatened  from  the  class  of  deserted  youth  then  first 
coming  plainly  into  public  view." 

With  the  intention  of  organizing  some  more  com- 
prehensive effort  than  had  been  before  attempted,  a 
number  of  influential  men,  Messrs.  William  C.  Rus- 
sell, B.  J.  Rowland,  William  C.  Oilman,  William 
L.  King,  C.  L.  Brace,  and  Judge  Mason  and  others, 
who  had  all  been  working  separately  in  different  dis- 
tricts of  the  city,  met  to  discuss  the  formation  of  an 
association,  and  a  letter  shows  us  that  on  Jan.  9, 
1853,  Mr.  Brace  was  asked,  to  his  great  surprise,  to 
take  the  head  of  what  they  called  "a  mission  to  the 
children,"  with  a  salary  of  one  thousand  dollars  a 
year.  In  accepting  the  call,  he  says  that  he  "  never 
dreamed  of  making  a  life  pursuit  of  it  in  the  begin- 
ning, or  during  a  number  of  years,"  and  the  follow- 
ing, from  a  letter  to  his  father,  written  ten  days  after 
the  offer  was  made,  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  uncertainty 
in  which  the  decision  was  made :  — 

"I  have  just  about  decided,"  he  says,  "on  an  im- 
portant step  for  me ;  that  is,  to  be  city  missionary 
for  vagrant  boys  during  the   year,  with  office  and 


^T.  26]       THE  CHILDREN'S  ATD   SOCIETY  157 

salary  ($1000).  I  have  hesitated  a  good  deal,  as  it 
interrupts  my  regular  study  and  training,  but  this 
is  a  new  and  very  important  enterprise.  The  duties 
are  to  organize  a  system  of  boys'  meetings,  vagrant 
schools,  etc.,  Avhich  shall  reach  the  whole  city;  to 
communicate  with  press  and  clergy;  to  draw  in  boys, 
find  them  places  in  country,  get  them  to  schools,  help 
them  to  help  themselves;  to  write  and  preach,  etc., 
etc.  A  new  and  rather  expanded  thing  at  present, 
but  to  become  clearer  as  we  go  on.  Mornings  in 
office,  afternoons  in  visiting.  It  suits  my  sympa- 
thies, has  variety,  and  is  or  can  be  of  infinite  use. 
Still  it  will  keep  me  here,  even  in  hottest  weather, 
and  it  binds  me  down  for  a  year.  What  do  you  say  ? 
Is  it  the  best  field  for  my  talents  ?  Can  I  do  more 
elsewhere  for  humanity  ?  " 

In  a  circular  issued  as  soon  as  the  plans  of  this 
new  association  calling  itself  "The  Children's  Aid 
Society"  were  made  (which  may  be  found  in  the 
appendix),  Mr.  Brace  speaks  with  deepest  feeling  of 
the  gradual  degradation  which  is  sure  to  result  to 
both  boys  and  girls  from  the  uncontrolled  life  of  the 
streets.  He  says  that  it  is  not  possible  for  him  and 
those  about  him,  as  Christian  men,  to  look  upon  this 
great  multitude  of  unhappy,  deserted,  and  degraded 
boys  and  girls,  without  feeling  responsibility  to  God 
for  them.  He  proposes,  without  in  any  way  conflict- 
ing with  existing  asylums  and  institutions,  to  take 
care  of  the  vagrant  children  by  means  of  industrial 


158  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

schools  and  lodging-houses,  and  "  especially  to  be  the 
means  of  draining  the  city  of  this  class  by  communi- 
cating with  farmers,  manufacturers,  or  families  in  the 
country  who  may  have  need  of  such  employment." 
The  circular  closes  with  the  words :  "  We  call  upon  all 
who  recognize  that  these  are  the  little  ones  of  Christ, 
all  who  believe  that  crime  is  best  averted  by  sowing 
good  influences  in  childhood,  all  who  are  the  friends 
of  the  helpless,  to  aid  us  in  our  enterprise.  We 
confidently  hope  this  wide  and  practical  movement 
will  have  its  share  of  Christian  liberality."  It  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  all  the  distinctive  features  of 
the  society  as  it  developed  later, —  Sunday  meetings 
and  industrial  schools,  lodging-houses  and  reading- 
rooms,  arrangements  with  manufacturers  for  provid- 
ing employment,  and  the  placing  of  children  on  farms 
and  in  country  homes, —  are  found  in  outline  in  this 
the  society's  first  circular. 

No  sooner  was  the  office  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  opened  at  683  Broadway,  than  there  was  an 
immediate  response  of  the  children  to  this  effort  for 
them.  Crowds  of  wandering  little  ones  found  their 
way  there.  Ragged  young  girls  who  had  nowhere 
to  lay  their  heads,  children  driven  from  drunkards' 
homes,  pickpockets  and  child  beggars  and  flower- 
sellers,  all  came.  Mr.  Brace  says  in  "  The  Danger- 
ous Classes  of  New  York  " :  — 


JEx.  26]  THE   FIRST  WORKSPIOP  159 

"All  this  motley  throng  of  infantile  misery  and 
childish  guilt  passed  through  our  doors,  telling  their 
simple  stories  of  suffering  and  loneliness  and  temp- 
tation, until  our  hearts  became  sick;  and  the  present 
writer,  certainly,  if  he  had  not  been  able  to  stir  up 
the  fortunate  classes  to  aid  in  assuaging  these  fearful 
miseries,  would  have  abandoned  the  post  in  dis- 
couragement and  disgust!  " 

On  March  7th,  he  writes  to  one  of  the  trustees, 
Mr.  W.  L.  King:  — 

"  Everything  goes  on  well.  .  .  .  We  have  opened 
one  room  for  a  workshop  in  Wooster  Street,  where 
we  expect  to  have  forty  or  fifty  boys.  The  work 
is  shoemaking.  The  boys  jump  at  the  chance  gladly. 
.  .  .  Public  attention  is  arousing  everywhere  to 
this  matter,  and  the  first  two  or  three  days  after  our 
appeal  was  published,  we  had  some  four  hundred 
dollars  sent  in,  part  in  cash,  without  the  trouble  of 
collecting.  We  shall  begin  collecting  this  week. 
I  pray  with  you,  dear  sir,  for  God's  blessing  on  our 
young  enterprise.  It  is  a  grand  one;  but  without 
Him  I  see  how  useless  it  will  be.  If  we  succeed 
even  faintly,  I  shall  feel  that  we  have  not  lived  in 
vain.  Surely  Christ  will  be  with  us  in  these  feeble 
efforts  for  His  poor  creatures." 

And  in  a  letter  to  his  father  a  week  or  two  earlier : 

"...  We  are  beginning  well  with  our  society, 
and  I  shall  send  you  soon  the  circular.  We  incorpo- 
rate it,  and  on  the  first  of  May  enter  our  office  in  the 
new  Bible  House.     At  present  the  office  is  at  corner 


160  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

of  Amity  Street.  I  always  knew  my  sins  would  find 
me  out,  and  now  I  see  what  I  have  got  to  learn,  to 
be  a  business  man.  But  my  discipline  stands  me  in 
good  stead,  and  I  work  to  be  methodical,  when  you 
would  do  it  naturally.  In  the  morning  between 
nine  and  twelve  I  am  in  the  office  writing  and  keep- 
ing books.  In  afternoon  ranging  city,  seeing  boys, 
talking  with  pastors,  doing  any  business  we  may 
have  till  five;  then  return  to  my  lodgings,  my  own 
again,  except  when  I  make  a  night  excursion.  I 
shall  not  write  much  for  press,  except  as  our  busi- 
ness requires,  and  to  keep  up  my  connection  with  it, 
but  in  evenings  study  and  read  and  see  friends.  The 
business  tires  me  much  more  than  writing  and  study- 
ing during  the  day,  harasses  and  wears.  It  will 
keep  me  close,  too,  all  the  year,  I  fear.  But  the 
enterprise  is  a  great  one,  and  for  a  year  I  can  stand  it. 
Then  on  some  wider  and  more  intellectual  field!  " 

To  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Gray,  he  writes  of  the  satisfac- 
tory character  of  his  work,  as  follows :  — 

To  Mrs.  Asa  Gray. 

Children's  Aid  Society,  April  23,  1853. 
My  dear  J — ;  I  am  overwhelmed  with  business, 
and  therefore  have  not  written  as  I  should.  This  is 
only  an  apology.  I  will  write  again  at  length  in  a 
few  days.  You  must  not  think  of  me  as  tending 
delicate,  fatherless  children,  or  anything  of  that 
sort.  I  have  to  do  mostly  with  rough,  hearty,  poor 
boys,  and  with  friendless  children  who  have  learned 


JEt.  26]     FAILURE  OF  WORKSHOP  ATTEMPTS    161 

how  to  take  care  of  themselves  —  such  as  I  do  love 
or  like.  I  think  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  so 
interesting  as  a  healthful,  manly  boy,  and  the  attempt 
to  help  these  fellows  to  help  themselves  is  the  most 
pleasant  to  me  possible.  The  worst  of  it  is  the 
stupidity  and  ignorance  of  the  parents,  who  can't  be 
talked  or  driven  into  saving  their  own  children. 

The  first  special  effort,  the  workshop  in  Wooster 
Street,  was  not  successful.  Other  attempts,  made 
from  time  to  time,  to  teach  boys  other  trades,  such 
as  box-making,  bag-making,  and  carpentering,  also 
failed.  It  had  been  hoped  that  the  boys  might  be 
taught  trades,  and  at  the  same  time  the  workshops 
be  self-supporting,  but  this  was  not  found  feasible. 
The  workers  were  too  irregular,  work  was  spoiled, 
and  it  was  found  to  be  an  axiom  that  "  Benevolence 
cannot  compete  with  selfishness  in  business."  "We 
soon  discovered  that  if  we  could  train  the  children 
of  the  streets  to  habits  of  industry  and  self-control 
and  neatness,  and  give  them  the  rudiments  of  moral 
and  mental  education,  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves 
about  anything  more.  A  child  in  any  degree  edu- 
cated and  disciplined  can  easily  make  an  honest  liv- 
ing in  this  country."^ 

In  planning  the  industrial  schools  of  the  Children's 
Aid  Society,  Mr.  Brace  felt  that  he  had  hit  upon  one 
of  the  surest  and  most  practical  measures  to  save 

1  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  95. 


162  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1853 

from  vice  the  children,  and  especially  the  daughters, 
of  the  poor.  A  more  intimate  relation  between 
teacher  and  pupil,  a  stronger  moral  influence  on  the 
part  of  the  former,  can  thus  be  attained,  than  is  pos- 
sible in  the  public  school.  Children  will  come,  too, 
who  are  ashamed,  owing  to  their  rags,  to  be  seen  in 
the  public  schools,  or  who  cannot  attend  regularly 
because  of  their  occupations  at  home,  or  because  of 
the  need  of  eking  out  the  family  income  in  some 
street  employment.  Mr.  Brace  was  alive,  from  the 
first,  to  the  necessity  of  going  after  the  children, 
seeking  the  parents  in  their  homes,  and  persuading 
them  to  send  their  children  to  the  school.  To  do 
this  it  was  necessary  to  convince  them  of  the  abso- 
lutely unsectarian  character  of  the  instruction  offered ; 
also,  to  offer  help  in  the  way  of  food  and  clothing  to 
those  who  excelled  in  learning,  punctuality,  and 
good  deportment.  Paid  agents,  therefore,  were  to 
go  about  gathering  in  the  children,  and  these  agents, 
in  establishing  friendly  relations  wherever  they 
went,  would  be  in  a  position  to  recruit  pupils  for 
the  public  schools,  as  well  as  to  discover  and  make 
provision  for  the  homeless.  In  the  school  itself, 
Mr.  Brace  was  clear  as  to  what  should  be  offered. 
First  of  all,  direct  moral  instruction,  arising  often 
from  the  close  relation  between  teacher  and  pupil; 
and  secondly,  instruction  in  industry  and  mental 
training  by  means  of  the  "object"  system.      The 


iEx.  26]  THE  SCHOOL  TRAINING  163 

danger  of  falling  into  routine  was  as  much  as  possi- 
ble to  be  avoided.  The  training  was  to  be  in  the 
exercise  of  the  senses  —  touch,  weight,  color,  and 
harmony,  now  recognized  as  of  basic  importance  in 
the  development  of  the  intellect.  "The  principle 
most  insisted  on,"  he  says,^  "...  is  that  the  child 
should  teach  himself,  so  far  as  possible;  that  his 
faculties  should  do  the  work,  and  not  the  teacher's ; 
and  the  dull  and  slow  pupil  is  especially  to  be  led 
on  and  encouraged."  The  little  girls  were  to  spend 
a  portion  of  their  time  in  sewing ;  the  boys  were  to 
be  taught  a  new  conception  of  order  and  regularity 
of  employment.  When  the  work  had  had  time  to 
grow  ripe,  "Mothers'  meetings  "  might  be  organized, 
and  the  connection  between  the  school  and  the  home 
might  be  made  a  more  binding  and  vital  one.  As 
time  went  on  and  the  schools  had  justified  their 
existence  in  the  community,  some  of  these  meetings 
were  held,  but  it  was  found  that  better  agents  than 
the  society's  teachers  and  visitors  were  the  children 
themselves.  The  habits  they  learned  at  school  were 
carried  by  them  into  their  homes,  and  thus  in  the 
natural,  unconscious  manner  that  seems  most  analo- 
gous to  the  methods  of  nature  in  the  physical  uni- 
verse, the  influence  of  the  school  was  extended 
through  the  neighborhood  in  which  it  was  situated. 

1  In  a  chapter  on  inventive  teacliing,  in  "Tlie  Dangerous  Classes 
of  New  York." 


164  CHARLES  LORTXG  BRACE  [1853 

The  Society,  with  its  very  small  means,  was  not 
able,  in  its  infancy,  to  undertake  the  expense  of 
schools,  and  Mr.  Brace  conceived  the  idea  of  organ- 
izing an  association,  of  the  simplest  nature,  of  a  few 
women  who  should  feel  the  responsibility  of  raising 
money,  while  the  society  was  to  bring  together  the 
children  and  suitable  teachers.  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, in  this  connection,  that  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, many  of  the  usual  methods  of  raising  money 
for  a  charity,  such  as  "raffles,"  "pathetic  exhibitions 
of  abandoned  children,"  or  even  the  "legitimate 
benefit  of  a  fair,"  had  been  resolutely  renounced  by 
the  new  society.  Once,  Mr.  Brace  writes,  he  was 
led  into  arranging  for  a  concert  for  the  benefit  of  a 
school,  "  but  that  experience  was  enough.  Our  effort 
at  musical  benevolence  became  a  series  of  most  in- 
harmonious squabbles,"  and  he  was  glad  to  retire 
with  a  few  hundred  dollars  gained  at  the  cost  of 
"superhuman  exertions."  For  some  months  he  had 
been  attempting  to  prepare  the  public  mind  for  the 
new  departure,  by  incessant  writing  for  the  daily 
papers,  by  lectures,  and  by  sermons  in  various  pul- 
pits. He  had  also  investigated  closely  the  different 
parts  of  the  city,  with  reference  to  future  movements 
for  their  benefit,  and  so  had  grown  to  know  the 
centres  of  crime  and  misery,  of  filth  and  wretched- 
ness and  vice,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  children 
lived  and  grew  up  rough  and  untamed.     He  says: 


iET.26]  CARING   FOR  LITTLE  GIRLS  165 

"  Near  each  one  of  these  fever-nests  and  centres  of 
ignorance,  crime,  and  poverty,  it  was  our  hope  and 
aim  eventually  to  place  some  agency  which  should 
be  a  moral  and  physical  disinfectant,  a  seed  of  re- 
form and  improvement  amid  the  wilderness  of  vice 
and  degradation."  1 

With  one  of  the  worst  of  these  localities,  that  in 
which  lie  Cherry,  Water,  and  Roosevelt  Streets,  Mr. 
Brace  had  become  especially  familiar,  and  had  grown 
to  feel  tliat  nothing  but  a  great  effort  could  save  the 
children  there  from  hopeless  degradation.  Little 
girls  wandered  the  streets,  begging  and  stealing, 
gathering  rags,  and  doing  errands  for  the  dance- 
saloons,  exposed  to  every  species  of  temptation. 
Occasionally  their  offences  grew  too  flagrant,  and 
then  the  police  arrested  them,  but  only  to  let  them 
go  again  in  response  to  the  pleading  of  their  mothers, 
and  their  assurances  that  the  children  should  be 
cared  for.  It  seemed  to  Mr.  Brace  that  if  he  could 
prevail  upon  the  women  of  New  York  who  were 
awakening  to  a  sense  of  their  great  responsibilities 
towards  this  class,  to  meet  face  to  face  the  evils  of 
which  he  was  daily  giving  accounts  in  his  addresses 
and  writings, —  if  he  could  get  the  refinement,  edu- 
cation, and  Christian  enthusiasm  of  the  better  classes 
fairly  to  Avork  among  these  little  girls,  the  terrible 
evils  threatening  them  might  be  averted.     An  espe- 

1 "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  95. 


166  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

cial  blessing  attended  this  effort  of  his  to  bring  to- 
gether these  two  extremes  of  society,  and  as  the 
department  of  industrial  schools  widened  its  sphere 
of  usefulness,  devoted  women  from  the  more  fortu- 
nate classes  freely  gave  their  time,  in  some  cases 
daily,  to  this  work,  and  nothing  throughout  the  years 
spent  in  building  up  the  Society  helped  and  cheered 
Mr.  Brace  more  than  the  efforts  of  these  self-sacrific- 
ing women. 

Accordingly  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  home  of 
one  of  the  most  earnest  of  the  volunteers,  and  he 
made  an  address,  telling  them  what  they  were  to 
expect,  that  it  was  not  a  plan  for  "  holiday  work,  or 
gush  of  sentiment " ;  that  it  must  be  carried  on  day 
by  day,  and  month  by  month;  that  "unpleasant 
sights  were  to  be  met  with,  coarse  people  encoun- 
tered, and  rude  children  managed."  A  constitution 
was  then  presented,  of  the  simplest  nature,  and  an 
association  organized,  and  officers  ajjpointed  by  the 
ladies  present.  This  was  the  foundation  of  the  first 
school  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  the  Fourth 
Ward  Industrial  School. 

At  the  same  time,  Mr.  Brace  went  through  the 
slums  of  this  ward,  publishing  the  fact  that  such  a 
school  was  to  be  opened,  explaining  that  work  was 
to  be  taught,  food  to  be  given  to  all,  and  clothes  for 
good  behavior.  "Never,"  he  says  in  an  account  of 
this  enterprise,  "...  did  I  experience  the  slight- 


^T.  20]  FOURTH  WARD  SLUMS  167 

est  annoyance  in  my  visits,  nor  did  any  of  the  ladies 
who  subsequently  ransacked  every  den  and  hole 
where  a  child  could  shelter  itself."  A  room  was 
taken  in  the  basement  of  a  church  in  Roosevelt  Street. 
"Hither  gathered,  on  a  morning  of  December,  1853, 
our  ladies  and  a  flock  of  the  most  ill-clad  and  wild- 
est little  street  girls  that  could  be  collected  any- 
where in  New  York.  They  flew  over  the  benches, 
they  swore  and  fought  with  one  another,  they  bandied 
vile  language,  and  could  hardly  be  tamed  down  suffi- 
ciently to  allow  the  school  to  be  opened."  The 
pages  that  follow  this  statement  in  "  The  Dangerous 
Classes  of  New  York,"  describing  in  touching  detail 
the  gradual  taming  of  these  wild  little  ones  in  the 
first  school  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  may  be 
taken  as  a  fair  sample  of  what  took  place  in  a  dozen 
of  the  worst  dark  places  of  the  city. 

In  his  book  Mr.  Brace  tells  us  that  the  spectacle 
which  earliest  and  most  painfully  arrested  his  atten- 
tion in  this  work  was  the  houseless  boys  in  various 
portions  of  the  city.  He  tells  us  how  he  had  often 
seen  a  dozen  of  these  small  members  of  the  commu- 
nity piled  together  to  keep  warm  under  the  stairs  of 
printing-offices,  and  speaks  in  an  early  appeal  of  two 
little  boys  having  been  known  to  sleep  one  winter 
in  the  iron  tube  of  the  Harlem  Bridge.  He  says: 
"  Their  life  was,  of  course,  a  painfully  hard  one. 
To  sleep  in  boxes,  or  under  stairways,  or  in  hay- 


168  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

barges  on  the  coldest  winter  nights,  for  a  mere 
child,  was  hard  enough ;  but  often  to  have  no  food, 
to  be  kicked  and  cuffed  by  the  older  ruffians,  and 
shoved  about  by  the  police,  standing  barefooted  and 
in  rags  under  doorways  as  the  winter  storm  raged, 
and  to  know  that  in  all  the  great  city  there  was  not 
a  single  door  open  with  welcome  to  the  little  rover  — 
this  was  harder."  Mr.  Brace's  close  acquaintance 
with  this  class  had  shown  him  that  their  life  of 
hardship,  while  it  necessarily  made  them  sharp  and 
reckless,  had  developed  a  certain  code  of  honor  in 
their  relations  with  one  another.  The  newsboy,  as 
a  rule,  will  not  get  drunk;  he  pays  his  debts  to 
other  boys,  and  thinks  it  dishonorable  to  sell  papers 
on  their  beats ;  while  his  generosity  and  kindness  to 
another  in  scrapes  is  a  credit  to  human  nature. 

The  idea  of  a  lodging-house  for  this  class  of  wan- 
derers was  a  new  one.  Already,  in  Boston,  Mr. 
Charles  Eliot  Norton  and  others  had  begun  a  model 
lodging-house,  but  nothing  of  this  kind,  simply  for 
boys,  had  been  attempted.  It  seemed  to  Mr.  Brace 
that  if  these  boys  could  have  a  place  to  which  they 
felt  at  liberty  to  go  when  they  chose,  with  no  restric- 
tions beyond  a  small  charge  and  the  necessity  for 
decent  behavior,  if,  in  short,  —  he  could  institute  a 
sort  of  "hotel  for  boys,"  —  this  convenience  might 
become  an  agency  for  immense  good.  It  was  to  be 
expected  that  in  a  place  where  so  great  freedom  was 


^T.  26]     THE  NEWSBOYS'  LODGING-HOUSE  16d 

to  be  allowed,  there  would  be  many  cases  where  no 
touch  of  the  influence  Mr.  Brace  wished  to  see  ex- 
erted would  reach  the  boys,  and  many  would  go  forth 
into  their  hard  life  again  unaided  by  the  lessons  in 
religion  and  morality.  But  Mr.  Brace  was  firm 
from  the  begfinnino:  in  his  conviction  that  no  effort 
for  them  was  desirable  which  should  weaken  "the 
best  quality  of  this  class  —  their  sturdy  indepen- 
dence. The  first  thing  to  be  aimed  at  in  the  plan 
was  to  treat  the  lads  as  independent  little  dealers, 
and  give  them  nothing  without  payment,  but  at  the 
same  time  to  offer  them  much  more  for  their  money 
than  they  could  get  anywhere  else.  Moral,  educa- 
tional, and  religious  influences  were  to  come  in 
afterward.  "1 

Constant  efforts,  in  letters  to  the  press,  interviews 
with  influential  individuals,  addresses  in  churches 
and  public  meetings,  were  made  by  Mr.  Brace  dur- 
iner  this  first  winter  of  the  work,  to  obtain  the  means 
necessary  to  carry  out  his  aims,  but  it  was  not  until 
March  of  the  following  year  that  the  first  News- 
boys' Lodging-House  was  established  in  New  York. 

Another  problem  for  which  Mr.  Brace  had  sought 
a  solution  was  that  expressed  in  the  question, "  What 
to  do  with  the  homeless  ? "  In  a  paper  written  in 
1859  he  appeals  to  the  public  not  to  consider  this 
subject  as  in  any  way  abstruse  or  removed  from  the 
1 "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  138. 


170  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

experience  of  common  life.  There  is  no  difference 
in  the  needs  of  the  poor  child  from  those  of  the  rich. 
They  require  s^^mpathy  and  hope,  steady  occupation, 
and  the  prospect  of  success,  just  as  all  children  do. 
Indifference  is  as  chilling  to  the  one  class  as  to  the 
other.  Each  poor,  deserted,  unfortunate  little  creat- 
ure in  the  streets  is  an  individual^  like  no  other 
being  whom  God  has  created ;  and  this  grand  fact  of 
his  individuality  must  be  considered  in  any  methods 
of  reform  for  his  vices,  or  of  education  for  his  facul- 
ties. He  says :  ^  "  The  child  must  have  sympathy, 
individual  management,  encouragement  for  good 
conduct,  pain  for  bad,  instruction  for  his  doubts, 
tenderness  for  his  weakness,  care  for  his  habits,  re- 
ligious counsel  and  impulse  for  his  peculiar  wants. 
He  needs,  too,  something  of  the  robust  and  healthy 
discipline  of  every-day  life.  He  ought  to  be  tried; 
he  ought  to  labor  with  a  motive ;  he  also  should  have 
something  of  the  boundless  hope  which  stimulates 
so  wonderfully  the  American  youth.  How  can  all 
this  be  got  in  an  asylum  or  refuge  ?  " 

In  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  he 
says:  "Now,  asylums  are  a  bequest  of  monastic 
days.  They  breed  a  species  of  character  which  is 
monastic,  indolent,  unused  to  struggle;  subordi- 
nate, indeed,  but  with  little  independence  and 
manly  vigor.  If  the  subjects  of  the  modern  monas- 
1  lu  the  paper  referred  to  above. 


^T.  26]  EMIGRATION  TO  THE   WEST  171 

tery  be  unfortunates, —  especially  if  they  be  already 
somewhat  tainted  with  vice  and  crime, —  the  effect 
is  a  weakening  of  true  masculine  vigor,  an  in- 
crease of  apj^arent  virtues,  and  a  hidden  growth 
of  secret  and  contagious  vices.  Moreover,  the  life 
under  the  machinery  of  an  'institution'  does  not  pre- 
pare for  the  thousand  petty  hand-labors  of  a  poor 
man's  cottage."  He  says  in  the  paper  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made :  "  As  a  poor  boy, 
who  must  live  in  a  small  house,  he  ought  to  learn 
to  draw  his  own  water,  and  to  split  his  wood, 
kindle  his  fires,  and  light  his  candle.  As  an  'insti- 
tutional child,'  he  is  lighted,  warmed,  and  watered 
by  machinery."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  the  family 
is  God's  reformatory,  and  that  it  is  in  accord  with 
a  great  natural  principle  that  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  is  aiming  at  the  removal  of  the  children  from 
the  city  streets  to  farmers'  homes  in  the  West.  This 
solution  seems  doubly  natural,  owing  to  the  unusual 
advantages  of  the  United  States  in  having  a  vast 
area  of  arable  land  in  the  cultivation  of  which  the 
farmers  need  help.  "With  this  fortunate  state  of 
things,  it  was  but  a  natural  inference  that  the  im- 
portant movement  now  inaugurating  for  the  benefit 
of  the  unfortunate  classes  of  New  York,  should  at 
once  strike  upon  a  plan  of  emigration."  ^ 

His  friend.  Miss  Schuyler,  in  speaking  after  his 
1  "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  226. 


172  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

death,  of  the  distinctive  character  of  his  work,  wrote : 
"His  genius  solved  the  problem  which  had  baffled 
the  philanthropists  of  preceding  centuries.  He  saw 
that  home  life,  and  not  institution  life,  was  needed 
for  children,  and  so  he  set  himself  to  finding  homes 
for  homeless  children.  It  seems  so  simple  to  us 
now,  now  that  we  know  all  about  it;  but  it  required 
his  penetration,  his  genius,  to  reveal  to  us  what  is 
self-evident  when  once  our  eyes  are  opened." 

That  the  solution  of  the  problem  before  him  was 
not  simple  in  its  beginning,  is  strikingly  set  forth 
in  his  book,  as  Mr.  Brace  enumerates  the  questions 
which  were  met  by  the  society  at  his  first  suggestion 
of  the  plan.  "Would  the  farmers  really  want  these 
children  for  help?  How  were  places  to  be  found? 
How  were  the  demand  and  supply  for  children's  labor 
to  be  connected  ?  How  were  the  right  employers  to 
be  selected?  And,  when  the  children  were  placed, 
how  were  their  interests  to  be  watched  over,  and  acts 
of  oppression  or  hard  dealing  prevented  or  punished? 
Were  they  to  be  indentured  or  not?  If  this  was  the 
right  scheme,  why  had  it  not  been  tried  long  ago  in 
our  cities  or  in  Europe  ?  "  These  and  many  similar 
difficulties  offered  themselves,  but  the  scheme  had 
been  well  laid  and  long  planned,  and  objections  fell 
to  the  ground.  The  experiment  could  but  be  made, 
and  practical  experience  justified  none  of  the  fears 
that  the  undertaking  might  be  impracticable. 


^T.  26]       WELCOME  OF  THE  CHILDREN  173 

The  readiness  on  the  part  of  farmers  to  receive 
these  children  was  at  once  evident.  An  announce- 
ment, by  circuhirs  through  the  city  weeklies  and  rural 
papers,  of  the  intention  of  supplying  children,  brought 
a  speedy  response  in  the  form  of  hundreds  of  appli- 
cations from  farmers  and  mechanics.  There  are  some 
amusing  accounts  of  the  efforts  at  first  made  to  send 
a  certain  kind  of  child,  "a  perfect  child,"  with  char- 
acteristics to  suit  the  would-be  mother  or  father,  but 
this  was  soon  seen  to  be  impracticable,  and  an  organ- 
ized system  of  sending  little  companies,  made  clean 
and  properly  dressed,  under  a  competent  agent,  was 
adopted  instead.  Farming  communities  especially 
wished  for  the  children,  and  on  the  arrival  of  one  of 
the  parties,  immense  interest  was  displayed  by  the 
whole  town.  Crowds  generally  waited  at  the  station, 
and  the  children  were  quickly  disjiosed  of  for  the 
night.  The  next  day  a  meeting  of  the  people,  irre- 
spective of  religious  sympathies,  was  held  in  the 
town-hall,  and  the  agent  addressed  the  assembly, 
telling  them  of  the  benevolent  objects  of  the  society, 
and  relating  something  of  the  history  of  the  children. 
People  who  were  childless  came  forward  to  adopt 
children.  Others,  who  had  not  intended  to  take  any 
into  their  families,  were  induced  to  apply  for  them ; 
and  many  who  really  wanted  the  children's  labor 
pressed  forward  to  obtain  it.  Sometimes  the  adopted 
parents  paid  the  fares  of  the  children,  or  made  some 


174  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

gift  to  the  society.  "  At  length  the  business  of  char- 
ity is  finished,  and  a  little  band  of  young  wayfarers 
and  homeless  rovers  in  the  world  find  themselves  in 
comfortable  and  kind  homes,  with  all  the  boundless 
advantages  and  opportunities  of  the  Western  farmer's 
life  about  them.''^ 

During  these  and  the  following  busy  years,  Mr. 
Brace  kept  his  mind  fresh  by  determined  exclusion, 
at  certain  times,  of  all  thoughts  of  the  pathetic  and 
harrowing  scenes  of  his  work.  He  says:  "The 
present  writer  confesses  that  he  could  not  possibly 
have  borne  the  harrowing  and  disagreeable  scenes 
with  which  he  has  been  long  familiar,  without  mak- 
ing a  strict  rule  never  to  think  or  speak  of  the  poor 
when  he  was  away  from  his  work,  and  immediately 
absorbing  himself  in  some  entirely  different  subject. 
The  spring  of  the  mind  would  have  been  broken.  "^ 
The  following  letters  show  us  of  his  occupations  and 
interests,  outside  of  the  line  of  his  chief  labors :  — 

1  The  reference  above,  quoted  from  "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of 
New  York,"  is  to  the  Western  farmer's  life,  but  during  the  first  year 
of  the  society's  existence  the  emigration  was  not  so  distant  as  to 
the  West,  owing  to  the  greater  expense.  Parties  in  the  early  days 
went  to  Pennsylvania  and  Connecticut,  and  boys  were  placed  in 
situations  in  New  York  and  the  vicinity.  The  first  party  to  the  West 
was  taken  in  September,  1854.  A  description  of  it  will  be  found 
in  the  appendix. 

*  "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York." 


^T.  26]      LETTER  TO   THEODORE  PARKER  175 

To  Theodore  Parker. 

New  York,  Feb.  16,  1853. 

My  dear  Parker:  I  have  been  wanting  for  some 
time  just  to  express  the  very  great  pleasure  I  had  in 
my  Boston  visit.  It  did  me  good  meeting  you  and 
your  friends.  I  feel  a  new  spring  and  impulse  at 
seeing  men  so  free  and  true.  I  wish  you  would  say 
this  from  me  to  your  friend,  Wendell  Phillips,  if 
j^ou  happen  to  meet  him  soon.  Every  one,  almost, 
in  the  churches  here  is  so  narrow  and  stunted.  You 
seldom  meet  a  man.  And  I  incline  to  think  that  no 
one  who  has  been  brought  up  in  New  England  ever 
gets  again  the  full,  spontaneous  growth  of  his  facul- 
ties as  God  made  them.  He  may  of  his  intellect, 
but  not  often  of  all.  I  want  you  should  tell  your 
wife,  too,  how  much  I  enjoyed  my  few  words  with 
her,  and  how  pleasantly  I  retain  in  memory  my  visit. 

Have  you  noticed,  lately,  a  controversy  in  the 
"Tribune,"  with  reference  to  some  remarks  on  the 
"  Book  of  Daniel "  ?  It  has  called  out  some  vigorous, 
manly  articles  from  Greeley,  especially  on  suppress- 
ing facts  which  tell  against  the  Bible.  The  inscrip- 
tions —  as  I  understand  it  —  discovered  by  Layard, 
described  the  same  events  pictured  in  Daniel,  in  a 
language  or  dialect  anterior  to  its  date.  What  is 
your  impression  of  that  book?  I  certainly  never 
should  magine  it  a  "political  satire,"  as  claimed  by 
Layard.     It  reads  in  earnest. 

I  am  reading  your  sermons  with  intense  interest, 
and  am  surprised  and  happy  to  find  that  difference  of 
view  on  historic  questions  has  not  in  the  least  pro- 


176  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

duced  a  different  moral  view,  or  a  different  concep- 
tion of  God.  Your  God  is,  after  all,  the  Christ's 
God,  and  His  ideals  are  yours.  Manliness,  gener- 
osity, truthfulness,  universal  love, —  they  are  all 
there,  are  they  not?  There  is  only  one  exception 
(psychologically)  which  I  can  take.  I  believe,  with 
you,  that  God  never  punishes,  or,  as  Newman  says, 
"  Believe  not,  oh  reader,  though  all  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  affirm,  that  God  keeps  any  spiritual  scores 
against  thee!"  My  idea  of  all  suffering  is  that  it 
is  the  effect,  natural,  of  violated  law,  the  pain  of 
sickness,  whether  in  soul  or  body.  But  I  cannot 
from  any  analogy  here,  or  anything  which  I  see  of 
the  laws  of  the  mind,  affirm  that  every  creature  will 
hereafter  be  happy,  or  will  ever  be  completely  happy. 
I  find  a  touch  almost  of  infinity  in  the  soul,  and  in 
these  low  creatures  I  meet  I  am  amazed  at  the  power 
and  the  desperation,  and  sometimes  at  the  almost 
diabolic  self-will,  of  which  the  mind  is  capable.  Is 
it  derogatory  to  God  that  He  should  have  created 
"Sons  of  God,"  beings,  whom  even  He  could  not 
heal,  when  voluntarily  sick,  except  by  destroying  the 
laws  of  their  being?  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  the 
case  or  that  I  believe  it,  but  that  there  is  nothing,  to 
my  mind,  to  indicate  the  contrary  so  indubitably  as 
you  express  it.  It  has  sometimes  seemed  to  me  not 
the  least  happy  occupation  of  Eternity,  that  one 
should  be  engaged  in  righting  the  inevitable  wrongs 
of  the  universe.  The  reason  of  your  certitude,  I 
suppose,  is  in  your  belief  of  the  goodness  of  God. 
Yet  He  has  made  a  world  of  sin.  I  sincerely  hope 
your  view  will  turn  out  true.  ...  I  wish,  if  you 
ever  meet  Emerson,  you  would  express  the  exceeding 


iEx.  26]  WORK  OF  SOCIETY  BEGINNING  TO  TELL  177 

gratitude  of  myself  and  my  friends  here  for  what  he 
has  done  for  them.  I  can  scarcely  think  of  a  teacher 
to  whom  I  owe  more.  Next  to  Dr.  Arnold,  Emer- 
son has  given  man}'^  of  us  here  the  strongest  impulse 
we  ever  received;  and  though  I  have  finished  him 
utterly  now,  his  thoughts  come  up  continually  anew 
in  practical  life.  I  do  wish  he  would  write  more. 
He  ought  to. 

To  Mrs.  Asa  Gray. 

South  Side,  June  11,  1853. 
My  dear  J  — ;  I  have  sent  you,  occasionally,  a 
paper  to  show  my  operations  here.  I  think  our 
organization  is  going  to  do  a  good  work  —  very.  It 
is  a  rather  wearying  and  straining  life  to  the  sympa- 
thies, but  by  variety  of  occupation,  and  care  of  my- 
self, I  hold  it  out  well.  .  .  .  Except  by  our  schools, 
we  don't  get  hold  of  the  poor  girls  much.  It  does 
seem  as  if  everything  in  heaven  and  earth  was  against 
the  improvement  of  the  girls  in  our  poor  classes. 
The  boys  we  are  getting  off  into  the  country,  and 
starting  in  various  ways.  Every  two  or  three  days 
we  have  an  instance  which  would  reward  for  months 
of  labor;  some  homeless,  friendless  fellow  sent  off 
to  a  good  home  far  in  the  country.  Our  industrial 
schools  do  well,  though  not  enough  yet  to  satisfy  us. 
The  Juvenile  Asylum  is  working  very  hard  now, 
too,  so  that  our  streets,  in  externals,  begin  to  change 
some.  The  evil  lies  very  deep,  however,  and  will 
always  more  or  less  continue  with  this  immense 
immigration.  We  are  working  at  the  right  end, 
and  I  hope  much  for  the  results.     We  get  letters 


178  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

from  various  cities,  asking  advice  in  similar  enter- 
prises, so  that  the  great  religious  community  seems 
waking  up  to  the  matter. 

I  have  been  reading  something  which  I  want  you 
to  get  hold  of, —  the  greatest  and  freest  work  on  re- 
ligious history  of  the  century, —  Bunsen's  "Hyppoli- 
tus."  By  the  discovery  of  this  work  of  Hyppolitus, 
and  by  his  researches  therein,  he  has  been  able  to 
throw  more  light  on  early  Christianity  than  any 
writer  who  has  ever  written.  It  develops  precisely 
what  I  have  been  long  believing,  that  in  our  church 
forms,  our  creeds  and  ceremonies,  and  especially 
our  spirit  of  formalism,  we  are  essentially  differ- 
ent from  the  early  Christians.  I  do  think  that 
Christianity  now  needs  a  reformation,  as  much  as  it 
did  in  Luther's  time  —  from  the  same  thing,  too, 
formalism,  only  in  a  different  direction.  I  do  not 
think,  J — ,  that  the  Christian  faith  has  much  hold 
on  the  best  young  minds  of  the  country. 


To  F.  J.  Kingsbury. 

South  Side,  June  16th. 
Dear  Fred ;  .  .  .  I  am  much  interested  and  busy 
among  these  schools  for  vagrant  children  now.  Talk 
of  heathen!  All  the  pagans  of  Golconda  would  not 
hold  a  light  to  the  ragged,  cunning,  forsaken,  god- 
less, keen,  devilish  boys  of  Leonard  Street  and  the 
Five  Points,  and  Mr.  Matsell  calculates  them  and 
the  little  vagrant  girls  (who  are  worse)  of  New  York 
at  over  ten  thousand!  Our  future  voters,  and  Presi- 
dent-makers, and  citizens!     Good  Lord  deliver  us, 


iET.  27]        THE  OUTCAST  AND  HELPLESS  179 

and  help  them !  I  grow  solemn  and  weary  as  I  look 
at  the  mountains  of  crime  and  misery  and  sin  amongst 
us.  It  often  seems  to  me  that  if  I  could  begin  to 
convey  to  men  what  Christ  did  to  me,  even  as  He 
did,  I  would  so,  gladly;  for  what  is  suffering  or 
deprivation  or  death  if  one  could  only  be  sure  we 
were  raising  the  outcast  and  helpless  ?  I  always  find 
a  crowd  of  human  faces  an  almost  awful  sight;  but 
those  in  the  vagrant  schools!  A  child's  face,  with 
a  long,  black  story  of  shame  and  suffering  to  come 
written  on  it,  endless  capacities,  and  pleasant,  sunny 
gleams  in  it,  and,  you  are  so  sure,  a  future  like  hell 
before  it.  Don't  you  think  God  will  treat  tliem 
better  than  man  has?  To  start  a  human  heart  with 
passions  like  whirlwinds  in  it,  and  reason  hardly 
acting,  put  it  where  everything  bad  would  certainly 
grow  and  everything  good  dry  up,  and  then  to  beat 
it  and  torture  it  and  buffet  and  starve  and  so  edu- 
cate, and  at  last  to  send  it  out  into  Eternity,  to  be 
battered  always  there  because  it  was  so  damned  bad 
here,  is  rather  hard,  isn't  it? 

In  response  to  an  invitation  to  visit  New  York, 
Theodore  Parker  Avrites :  — 

"...  I  want  to  see  all  the  work  you  and  others 
are  doing,  to  see  if  we  in  Boston  can't  do  likewise 
next  winter.  If  you  are  not  to  be  in  New  York 
in  August,  let  me  know.  God  bless  you  for  your 
true  labor.  It  makes  my  heart  bleed  to  read  your 
papers  in  the  'Times.'  A  friend  of  mind  heard  a 
sad-looking  man  say  to  another  in  the  street:  'Well, 
after  all,  it  is  a  pretty  hard  world  to  get  along  in ! ' 


180  CHAELES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

It  has  rung  in  my  ears  like  a  knell  ever  since. 
What  a  wicked  people  we  are !  What  a  story  some 
humane  man  will  one  day  have  to  tell  of  the  Chris- 
tians! Imagine  one  of  the  future  Tholucks  of  the 
year  MMDCCCCLIII  writing  a  treatise  on  the 
morals  of  Christianity,  and  the  effect  of  this  form 
of  religion  on  the  unfortunate  classes  of  society! 
Oh,  dear,  dear!  But  we  will  do  something  to  make 
better  times  before  we  die." 

Mr.  Brace  writes  in  reply :  — 

To  Theodore  Parker. 

New  York,  July  26,  1853. 

My  dear  Parker:  I  regret  that  I  shall  be  out  of 
town  during  all  August.  ...  I  need  a  complete 
change  of  air  and  scene,  after  so  much  of  sad  and 
disgusting  sights.  .  .  .  The  fall  would  be  a  far 
better  time  for  your  purposes  of  seeing  the  operations 
among  the  poor.  .  .  .  The  impression  of  which  you 
speak  in  your  note  deepens  on  one  here  —  that  some- 
thing is  out  of  joint  in  modern  societ}^  and  in  prac- 
tical religion.  People  don't  get  a  fair  chance  in  life, 
and  very  few  do  anything  to  help  them  to  it.  We 
meet,  occasionally,  very  bright  intellects  down  in 
these  classes,  whom  it  is  the  greatest  pleasure  to  help 
up  to  light,  but  the  most  show  the  traces  of  others' 
wrong-doing.  It  is  a  sad  thing  that  there  are  so 
many  friendless  and  degraded  without  any  fault  of 
their  own.  Oar  work  is  often  very  discouraging. 
The  poor  become  so  suspicious,  and  are  naturally  so 
narrow  and  pig-headed.     Still  it  seems  to  me  most 


iEx.  27]  RELIGIOUS  FORMALISM  181 

worthy  of  a  man  to  consider  it  his  peculiar  part  in 
life  to  bear  up  the  weak  and  defend  the  wronged, 
even  the  more  wlien  they  do  not  appreciate  or  when 
they  turn  against  him.  Still,  now  and  then,  we  do 
see  a  smile  on  a  weary  face  which  rewards  and  makes 
one  forget  all  manner  of  perversity.  It  does  surprise 
me,  as  I  look  round  in  our  city,  to  see  the  general 
aspect  of  men  who  profess  to  be  especial  embassadors 
of  Christ.  There  are  not  half  a  dozen  of  the  whole 
number  who  ever  have  even  traversed  the  poorest 
streets  of  the  city.  They  know  scarcely  anything 
about  the  masses.  They  are  in  comfortable,  honored 
positions,  and  live  with  and  preach  to  the  rich,  or 
else  live  with  books.  This  would  not  be  so  bad  if 
they  were  really  apostles  of  ideas.  But  the  great 
object  of  their  calling  —  apart  from  personal  minis- 
tration —  they  fail  in.  They  don't  stand  up  for 
freedom,  justice,  intellectual  honest}',  and  indepen- 
dence. They  do  not  lead  in  a  single  great  enterprise 
of  humanity;  and  they  do  help  the  universal  Ameri- 
can mind  to  become  swallowed  up  in  its  formalism. 
I  doubt  whether  Christ,  if  suddenly  appearing,  could 
be  licensed  in  any  church,  unless  possibly  two  or 
three.  Still  they  all  have  good  and  kind  traits,  and 
some  are  trying  for  better  things.  One  thing  is  sure, 
the  American  mind  is  leaving  the  whole  set  of  them. 
Minister-craft  is  passing  aAvay.  Our  papers  are  the 
pulpits.  I  have  resolved  on  one  thing:  if  I  ever 
preach,  not  to  join  one  of  their  organizations,  but 
to  speak  as  Christ  and  the  good  men  of  early  times 
did,  in  an  independent  body  of  good  men,  who  com- 
bine in  order  better  to  help  others. 
I  wish  you  could  come  on,  dear  sir.     There  is  a 


182  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1858 

class  of  men  here  very  sceptical  whom  you,  and  you 
alone,  could  be  of  great  use  to.  Your  very  heresies 
would  help  you  with  them,  and  I  believe  the  very 
aspect  of  your  conviction  would  unconsciously 
strengthen  the  instinct  in  them,  in  the  belief  that 
there  is  a  God  and  an  Immortality. 

Mr.  Parker  paid  his  promised  visit  early  in  the 
autumn,  and  Mr.  Brace  writes  him  on  the  18th  of 
October:  — 

"...  Your  visit  left  a  delightful  impression  on 
us  all,  and  was  of  real  good,  I  think,  to  our  friends 
on  Staten  Island.  How  I  did  work  you!  .  .  .  Will 
you  please  see  a  leader  from  me  in  the  '  Times  ' 
of  to-morrow  on  '  Theatres, '  and  tell  me  whether 
you  coincide  or  not.  I  am  reading  your  '  Sermons 
on  Theism '  with  great  interest.  I  think  much 
fault  might  be  found  by  Atheists  with  your  positions 
on  the  morality  and  virtue  which  does  connect  itself 
with  a  hereafter.  Is  it  not  the  highest  nobleness, 
which  is  utterly  unconcerned  with  a  future,  which 
loves  and  sacrifices  and  suffers  because,  even  if  there 
be  no  God  or  Immortality,  it  is  the  happiest  to  do 
so,  or  because  they  in  their  present  state  of  progres- 
sion cannot  help  it?  Would  either  of  us  (if  Athe- 
ists) ever  hesitate  to  suffer  as  Kossuth,  or  die  as 
Jesus,  for  others,  without  the  compensation?  Are 
we  not  rewarded  in  the  act  ?  I  have  not  read  all  the 
book.  My  orthodox  friends  here  complain  of  its 
bitterness,  which  I  do  not  perceive." 

During  this  autumn  he  writes  his  father  of  some  of 
the  friends  he  is  making  in  New  York :  — 


^T.  27]     THE  SCHUYLERS  AT  DOBBS  FERRY      183 

To  his  Father. 

New  York,  Oct.  24,  1853. 
Dear  Father :  I  spent  yesterday  with  a  gentleman 
whom  you  would  have  been  interested  in  —  Colonel 
James  A.  Hamilton,  of  Dobbs  Ferry,  son  of  Alex- 
ander Hamilton.  I  was  first  invited  up  by  his  son- 
in-law,  Mr.  G.  L.  Schuyler,  grandson  of  old  General 
S.  of  the  Revolution,  and  dined  and  spent  the  night  at 
his  cottage.  Mr.  S.  's  wife  is  a  daughter  of  Colonel 
H.  I  was  invited  on  the  score  of  my  Germany  and 
the  C.  A.  Society.  Then,  Saturday,  I  went  up  again 
and  spent  Sunday.  It  is  a  deliglitful  family,  and  I 
think  you  will  be  interested  to  hear  of  them.  The 
colonel  is  a  thin,  small  old  gentleman,  with  a  large 
nose  and  deep-set,  fiery  eyes,  very  vivacious  and 
agreeable.  We  enjoyed  his  conversation  exceed- 
ingly. He  has  inexhaustible  stories  about  those 
early  times  I  used  to  hear  so  much  of  from  you.  You 
can  imagine  the  pleasure  of  hearing  directly  from 
his  son  of  those  events  I  used  to  get  from  you  and 
books.  Then  there  are  his  wife  and  two  very  pleas- 
ant daughters, —  altogether  a  most  simple,  interest- 
ing family,  highly  cultivated  and  free  in  thought. 
.  .  .  The  place  is  beautifully  situated,  commanding 
a  long  view  up  the  Hudson,  with  a  large  house  and 
old  trees,  and  servants  and  horses  in  style.  They 
are  Episcopalians,  but  quite  of  my  tone  in  thought. 
.  .  .  Mrs.  Schuyler  is  one  of  the  most  cultivated 
and  lovely  women  I  ever  knew.  I  found  that  they 
and  all  their  friends  had  read  my  book  on  Germany 
with  much  expressed  interest,  which  was  pleasant  to 
a  young  author,  and  that  they  sympathized  deeply 
in  my  labors. 


184  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1853 

To  the  Same. 

Dec.  18, 1853. 

Dear  Father :  Here  I  am  spending  Sunday  at  Col- 
onel Hamilton's  again.  I  came  up  on  Friday  even- 
ing to  dine  with  Washington  Irving  yesterday.  He 
had  expressed  a  desire  to  see  me,  and  invited  me 
to  dine  with  him.  I  was  glad  of  a  chance  to  see 
such  a  man  once,  though  as  a  general  thing  I  think 
meeting  a  great  man  doesn't  pay.  We  spent  a  pleas- 
ant morning  at  the  Hamiltons',  walking  and  talk- 
ing, and  at  two  drove  over  to  his  house.  He  has  a 
beautiful  little  cottage  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson, 
quite  draperied  with  ivy, —  a  straggling,  picturesque 
building.  The  plan  I  could  not  make  out.  After 
a  few  moments  he  came  down  and  received  me  very 
cordially,  mostly,  I  suppose,  on  the  Hamiltons'  ac- 
count, who  are  very  intimate  with  him.  He  is  a 
stout,  well-fed  looking  man,  his  face  as  fleshy  and 
florid  as  yours,  a  large,  somewhat  aquiline,  nose, 
eyes  modest  and  genial,  as  of  an  affectionate,  hearty 
man,  like  a  first-rate,  jovial  English  country  gentle- 
man. He  talks  with  a  thick  voice.  He  was  very 
chatty,  —  Miss  H.  said,  more  than  usual.  He  did 
not  talk  to  me  much,  but  evidently  for  me ;  that  is, 
to  entertain  me.  His  stories  were  very  good,  with 
much  action.  Mostly  of  men  he  had  known,  and  he 
seems  to  have  known  all  for  the  last  half-century. 
Tom  Moore,  Mad.  de.  Genlis,  Allston  the  painter, 
Wilkie,  Spain,  etc.,  etc.,  modest  and  genial,  show- 
ing an  excellent  heart;  still,  with  no  more  genius 
than  most  men  would  show.    Never  philosophic  or 


^T.  27]  "  UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN" "  185 

profound,  rather  artistic  and  humorous  and  kindly 
and  pure.  .  .  .  We  left  at  half  past  six  o'clock. 
He  spoke  very  kindly  of  Moore  and  Dickens,  con- 
demning, however,  his  treatment  of  America.  He 
had  lesolved  not  to  read  "  Uncle  Tom,'"  but  a  few 
week  i  before  he  hapjDened  to  go  into  a  theatre,  and 
saw  it  played,  and  at  once  bought  it  and  read  it  in 
the  cars.  .  .  .  Was  entranced.  Raised  his  opinion 
of  the  authoress  —  thought  it  would  do  great  good  — 
showed  masterly  genius.  On  the  whole,  the  inter- 
view was  very  interesting  to  me. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Opening  of  First  Lodging-House  for  Newsboys  —  Sunday  Evening 
Meetings  —  One  Year's  Experience  witli  Lodging-House  —  Per- 
sonal Relations  with  tlie  Poor  —  Notes  of  Lectures  on  Children's 
Aid  Society  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Journey  to  Ireland,  and 
Marriage  —  Aim  of  Society  and  Principles  —  Success  of  Emigra- 
tion —  Success  of  Schools  —  Volunteers  —  Letters  to  his  Wife  — 
Organization  of  Italian  School  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Trip 
to  England  and  Norway  —  Reflections  on  Loneliness  of  the 
Poor  —  Natural  Results  of  Neglect  of  Poor  Children  —  Kind  less 
of  Adopted  Mothers  in  the  West  —  Opposition  to  Emigratioa  — 
Journey  to  the  West  —  Letters  to  His  Wife 

The  early  spring  of  1854  saw  the  opening  of  the 
first  "Newsboys'  Lodging-House."  After  many 
efforts,  the  society  finally  obtained  money  enough 
to  pay  for  a  loft  in  the  old  "Sun'*  Building,  and  an 
excellent  superintendent,  Mr.  C.  C.  Tracy,  was  pro- 
cured. A  well-ventilated  dormitory  was  fitted  up 
for  ninety  boys,  with  comfortable,  single  beds;  there 
was  a  large  schoolroom  (serving  also  for  chapel  and 
playroom),  with  library,  melodeon,  and  savings  bank, 
besides  bath  and  washrooms,  and  private  lock-closets 
for  clothes  for  each  boy.  The  plan  was  to  give 
them  a  bed  for  six  cents,  with  a  bath  thrown  in,  and 
a  supper  for  four  cents  (free  if  the  boy  be  early). 
The  boys,  nothing  loth  to  obtain  the  good  things, 

186 


^T.  27]  THE  NIGHT  SCHOOL  187 

were  much  puzzled  as  to  what  it  all  meant.  It  did 
not  occur  to  them  that  discipline  was  to  be  the  order 
of  the  place,  and  they  prepared  for  a  grand  frolic. 
But  when  it  was  suddenly  discovered  that  the  first 
boots  flying  about  were  a  signal  for  the  lively  ones 
to  be  lifted  quietly  from  bed,  and  left  to  shiver  over 
their  folly,  they  concluded  that  the  part  of  discretion 
was  to  nestle  in  their  warm  beds.^  "Little  sleeping, 
however,  was  there  among  them  that  night.  But 
ejaculations  sounded  out,  such  as,  'I  say,  Jim,  this 
is  rayther  better  'an  bummin'.  My  eyes!  what  soft 
beds  these  is! '  'Tom,  it's  'most  as  good  as  asteam- 
gratin',  and  there  ain't  no  M.P.'s  to  poke,  neither. 
I'm  glad  I  ain't  a  bummer  to-night.'  " 

Thus  a  beginning  was  made,  and  the  boys  went 
forth  next  morning,  after  a  good  wash  and  a  break- 
fast, happier  and  cleaner  than  when  they  came  in. 

The  process  by  which  the  ingenious  superinten- 
dent inspired  the  boys  with  a  desire  for  a  night 
school  is  worth  recording.  He  quietly  announced 
to  them  one  morning  that  a  gentleman  had  called 
the  day  before  who  wanted  an  office-boy  at  three 
dollars  a  week.  Great  excitement  among  the  boys. 
"Let  me  go,  sir,"  and,  "Me,  sir."  "But  he  wanted 
a  boy  who  could  write  a  good  hand."  Disappoint- 
ment is  displayed  on  every  face.  "Well,  now,  sup- 
pose we  have  a  night  school,  and  learn  to  write. 
1  "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  102. 


188  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1854 

What  do  you  say,  boys?"  They  agree,  and  so 
begins  the  school.  The  Sunday  evening  meetings 
were  begun  one  day  when  the  boys  had  been  impressed 
by  a  public  funeral.  The  superintendent  suggested 
a  little  reading  in  the  Bible,  and  the  boys  consented. 
They  listened,  and  were  struck  and  much  puzzled  at 
what  they  heard.  The  Golden  Rule  struck  them  as 
an  impossible  precept  for  them  to  obey,  especially 
when  one  was  "stuck  and  short,"  and  "had  to  live." 
The  stories  of  miracles  seemed  to  them  natural 
enough,  and  that  there  should  exist  a  Being  able  to 
cure  disease  and  rule  nature  was  not  strange  to  them. 
"  And  it  was  a  kind  of  comfort  to  these  young  vaga- 
bonds that  the  Son  of  God  was  so  often  homeless, 
and  that  he  belonged  humanly  to  the  working  classes. 
The  petition  for  'daily  bread'  (which  a  celebrated 
divine  has  declared  'unsuited  to  modern  conditions 
of  civilization  ')  they  always  rolled  out  with  a  pecul- 
iar unction.  I  think  that  the  conception  of  a  Supe- 
rior Being,  who  knew  just  the  sort  of  privations  and 
temptations  that  followed  them,  and  who  felt  espe- 
cially for  the  poorer  classes,  who  was  always  near 
them,  and  pleased  at  true  manhood  in  them,  did  keep 
afterward  a  considerable  number  of  them  from  lying 
and  stealing  and  cheating  and  vile  pleasures.  Their 
singing  was  generally  prepared  for  by  taking  off  their 
coats  and  rolling  up  their  sleeves,  and  was  entered 
into  with  a  gusto.     The  voices  seemed  sometimes  to 


^T.  27]  TALKS  TO  THE  BOYS  189 

come  from  a  different  part  of  their  natures  from  what 
we  saw  with  the  bodily  eyes.  There  was,  now  and 
then,  a  gentle  and  minor  key,  as  if  a  glimpse  of 
something  purer  and  higher  passed  through  these 
rough  lads.  A  favorite  song  was,  'There's  a  Rest 
for  the  Weary,'  though  more  untiring  youngsters 
than  these  never  frisked  over  the  earth.  And 
'There's  a  Light  in  the  Window  for  Thee,  Brother,' 
always  j)leased  them,  as  if  they  imagined  themselves 
wandering  alone  through  a  great  city  at  night,  and 
at  length  a  friendly  light  shone  in  the  window  for 
them.*'i 

These  meetings  were  under  Mr.  Brace's  personal 
supervision,  were  inspired  by  him,  and  w^ere  full  of 
his  spirit.  His  talks  were  so  simple,  the  depth  of 
his  faith  was  so  profoundly  shown  in  the  little 
parables  which  he  drew  from  the  every-day  experi- 
ences of  his  youthful  hearers,  that  each  meeting  was 
a  deeply  religious  exercise  to  the  friends  who  came 
to  see  the  boys,  as  for  the  boys  themselves.  In 
later  days  others  assisted  him,  but  in  this  early 
time,  when  the  claims  upon  him  were  not  so  con- 
stant, he  conducted  the  whole  service,  and  those  who 
were  there  can  never  forget  it. 

After  a  year's  experience  with  the  lodging-house, 
Mr.  Brace  was  able  to  give  a  most  encouraging 
account  of  this  experiment.  He  stated  in  the 
1  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  pp.  103,  104. 


190  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1854 

second  annual  report  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society 
that  there  was  certainly  an  improvement  in  the  boys. 
They  were  cleaner,  more  respectful,  and,  at  least  in 
the  rooms,  more  decent  in  language.  In  this  re- 
port, he  says :  "  They  come  regularly  to  our  evening 
school,  and  the  informal  religious  meeting  on  Sun- 
day evening.  They  wear  clean  shirts  and  clean 
clothes.  Gambling  and  drinking  have  been  much 
left  off  by  them."  He  found  it  cheering  that  his 
faith  in  the  possibility  of  reaching  these  boys  should 
be  justified.  There  had  been  discouragement  enough 
in  many  quarters,  and  the  chief  of  police,  when 
Mr.  Brace  first  stated  his  plan  to  him,  asserted  that 
"he  might  as  well  try  to  tame  the  banditti  of  the 
desert "!  There  had  been  during  the  year  408  differ- 
ent boys  who  had  taken  advantage  of  the  opportu- 
nity offered,  and  6872  lodgers.  At  the  first  opening 
of  the  lodging-house  it  was  made  the  condition  of 
lodging  that  every  boy  should  take  a  bath.  To 
this  there  was  great  reluctance,  but  it  came,  after  a 
year's  time,  to  be  prized  as  a  privilege.  A  savings 
bank,  an  institution  which  delighted  the  boys,  was 
very  successful.  It  was  found  that  boys  who  at 
first  could  hardly  be  induced  to  leave  their  money 
to  accumulate  for  twenty-four  hours  together,  learned 
the  value  of  saving  to  such  a  degree,  that  at  the  end 
of  sixteen  months  an  average  of  sixteen  boys  per 
month  had  saved,  with  the  liberal  interest  allowed, 


iEx.  27]     PERSONAL  RELATIONS  WITH  POOR       191 

an  aggregate  sum  of  six  hundred  and  forty-five  dol- 
lars and  fifty-two  cents. 

The  business  of  this  growing  organization,  absorb- 
ing as  it  was,  did  not  occupy  Mr.  Brace  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  what  he  considered  of  equal  importance,  — 
his  continued  personal  relations  with  the  poor.  He 
says,  in  speaking  of  this  side  of  his  work:  "Into  this 
community  of  poor,  ignorant,  and  drunken  people  I 
threw  myself,  and  resolved,  with  God's  aid,  to  try 
to  do  something  for  them.  Here,  for  years,  I  visited 
from  cabin  to  cabin,  or  hunted  out  every  cellar  and 
attic  of  the  neighboring  tenement-houses,  standing 
at  death-beds  and  sick-beds,  seeking  to  administer 
consolation  and  advice,  and,  aided  by  others,  to  ren- 
der every  species  of  assistance.  In  returning  home 
from  these  rounds,  amidst  filth  and  poverty,  I  re- 
member that  I  was  frequently  so  depressed  and  ex- 
hausted as  to  throw  myself  flat  upon  the  rug  in  front 
of  the  fire,  scarcely  able  to  move."^ 

It  may  be  wondered  whence  the  money  came,  in 
the  early  days  of  the  society,  to  begin,  however  grad- 
ually, its  many  different  branches.  This  was  another 
part  of  Mr.  Brace's  labors ;  he  went  about  lectur- 
ing and  preaching,  sometimes  spending  every  evening 
in  the  week  and  the  Sunday  in  delivering  sermons 
and  addresses,  both  in  New  York  City,  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  Eastern  States.  "No  public  duties  of 
1  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  154. 


192  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1854 

mine  were  ever  more  agreeable  than  these,"  he  says; 
"and  the  results  proved  afterwards  most  happy,  in 
securing  a  large  rural  'constituency,'  who  steadily 
supported  our  movements  in  good  times  and  bad,  so 
quietly  devoted  and  in  earnest,  that  death  did  not 
diminish  their  interest,  some  of  our  best  bequests 
having  come  from  the  country."  We  insert  the 
few  touching  and  beautiful  notes  of  addresses  that 
have  been  found,  and  a  selection  from  a  sermon  in 
behalf  of  poor  children  that  seems  to  be  a  prophecy 
as  well  as  an  appeal.  The  notes,  hastily  written  and 
in  pencil,  were  found  among  Mr.  Brace's  papers 
with  nothing  to  indicate  where  or  when  the  ad- 
dresses were  delivered. 

"It  might  be  thought  we  should  be  sometimes 
discouraged  by  such  a  sea  of  evils.  Individuals 
doing  the  work  of  the  State,  and  a  few  heroic  labor- 
ers attempting  what  legislation  and  the  government 
have  thus  far  failed  to  accomplish.  So  many  cases 
of  abject  poverty,  so  many  sad  and  lonely  histories, 
so  much  bitterness  and  privation  and  crime  in  what 
should  be  the  sweet  years  of  childhood,  that  we 
might  naturally  despair.  But  I  think  I  may  say  of 
many  in  this  enterprise,  that  we  have  learnt  to  be- 
lieve in  One  above  this  black  poverty  and  suffering. 
We  have  faith  in  the  promises  He  has  given  of  a 
better  time  on  the  earth.  This  injustice  of  the 
strong  over  the  weak,  these  sad  sights  of  the  streets, 
the  wasted  forces  of   penury,   the  hopeless  child's 


^T.  27]     RELIGIOUS   ASPECTS   OF  THE   WORK      193 

look,  the  young  felon  behind  dungeon  bars,  the  girl 
old  in  crime  and  suffering, —  these  oppressive  ine- 
qualities shall  not  be  always.  There  is  —  one  can 
never  help  believing  it,  a  bright  unending  day  com- 
insf  for  all  tliese  moments  of  darkness.  Then  will 
be  a  time  on  earth  when  the  tears  of  despair,  the 
curse  of  crime,  the  moan  of  loneliness  and  want  shall 
not  be  any  more,  but  peace  and  love  over  all.  We 
must  labor  to  bring  it  on.   .   .   . 

"It  is  very  pleasant  to  feed  the  hungry,  to  clothe 
the  naked,  to  visit  the  sick  and  the  afflicted,  but  it 
is  not  that  humane  instinct  alone  which  has  impelled 
us  to  give  up  our  best  days,  and  the  fruit  of  educa- 
tion and  toil  to  this  enterprise.  It  is  very  grati- 
fying to  the  ladies  who  devote  their  time  and  toil  so 
patiently  and  nobly  to  our  industrial  schools,  to  see 
the  children  better  dressed,  cleaner,  and  more  re- 
spectable for  their  efforts.  But  it  is  not  that  which 
most  urges  them.  No !  With  us  all  it  is  the  belief 
that  the  little  ragged  outcast,  the  vagrant  girl,  the 
child  of  the  thief,  the  vile  street  beggar,  has  that 
within  her  which  shall  live  when  the  old  world  has 
passed  by.  In  the  distorted  young  face  we  see  the 
soul  undying  looking  forth.  We  know  that  the 
Son  of  God  died  for  her,  even  as  for  us.  We  know 
that  a  solemn  and  awful  destiny  is  for  her  as  for  our 
child  or  our  sister.  And  more.  I  know  I  speak  for 
many  and  many  this  winter,  in  their  labors  among 
the  poor,  when  I  say  that  the  sustaining  and  encour- 
aging thought  with  them,  as  they  walked  through 
the  dens  and  hovels  of  poverty,  is  that  a  form  like 
unto  the  Son  of  Man  is  with  them,  who  always  is 
where  our  poorest  are.     It  is  not  philanthropy  alone 


194  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1854 

which  has  upheld  and  encouraged,  though  that  is 
beautiful.     It  is  better  —  the  love  of  God.   .   .   . 

"But  with  the  mass  of  men,  we  are  confident  of 
the  truth  when  we  say  they  need  personal  labor 
among  the  poor.  They  need  to  give  of  their  means 
for  the  poor.  The  constant  and  repeated  affirmation 
by  Christ  of  this  affirms  it.  Every  one's  observation 
of  men  will  assure  him  of  it.  No  man  can  afford  to 
keep  himself  apart  from  human  suffering.  He  needs 
the  society  of  the  beggar  as  much  as  he  needs  that  of 
the  rich.  His  heart  must  be  put  near  to  the  heart 
of  the  great  masses  of  mankind,  or  he  loses  that 
which  is  the  greatest  gain  of  human  life,  —  human 
sympathy.  .  .  .  And  oh,  how  much  might  be  done 
with  all  the  wealth  and  ingenuity  and  energy  of 
modern  life  for  the  great  masses  of  unfortunate! 
How  many  ingenious  experiments  of  goodness,  how 
many  laborious  and  costly  methods  of  benefaction 
for  those  who  are  outcast  and  sinful,  might  be  under- 
taken by  our  rich  men  and  our  business  men !  The 
sins  of  modern  society  have  become  so  walled  in  by 
circumstances,  that  the  most  ingenious  and  persis- 
tent means  are  alone  able  to  reach  them.  All  the 
tact  of  a  settled  social  life,  all  the  ingenuity  and 
enterprise  of  business,  all  the  powers  of  wealth,  all 
the  graces  of  refinement  and  education,  all  the  influ- 
ences of  the  noblest  character  and  most  loving  heart, 
can  be  apjDlied  now  and  with  abundant  demand  be- 
yond, to  our  social  evils.  Now,  even  as  when  Paul 
lived,  they  can  all  be  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  Re- 
deemer. ..." 


^T.  27]  COUNSELLING  PATIENCE  195 

The  two  letters  wliich  follow  show  jNIr.  Brace's 
satisfaction  in  the  work  which  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  is  doing,  and  his  plans  for  the  future :  — 

To  Mrs.  Asa  Gray. 

New  York,  March  20,  1854. 

My  dear  J — ;  .  .  .  Our  enterprise  here  this 
winter  has  been  pre-eminently  successful,  and  if  it 
is  only  permanent,  will  accomplish  a  good  deal.  A 
great  amount  of  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  has  been 
shown  by  people  whom  I  did  not  think  capable  of  it. 
The  labors  are  now  so  comprehensive  and  thorough, 
that  fruits  must  appear  some  d^y.  I  suppose  we  may 
not  see  many,  —  though  we  do  already  a  few,  —  but 
the  next  generation  will,  and  those  after  us  will  be 
glad  of  our  work.  I  have  an  undying  faith  in  ideas 
and  in  labor  which  depends  on  the  Divine  Spirit, 
and  if  I  never  saw  a  result,  I  should  not  doubt.  The 
magnitude  of  the  evils  seems  sometimes  immense, 
but  there  are  also  great  means,  —  then  we  are  all  in 
such  a  hurry.  God  seems  to  work  very  slowly.  It 
is  very  pleasant  to  go  right  to  the  worst  sins  and 
sufferings  of  society,  and  feel  you  are  in  some  degree 
reaching  them.  Still  I  must  confess  I  am  not  alto- 
gether satisfied.  My  life  has  become  too  practical, 
too  much  outward  and  executive,  and  m}^  intellect 
is  rusting.  I  do  not  get  my  old  time  as  much  for 
mental  development.  Is  that  right?  I  think  not. 
What  do  you  think? 


196  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1854 

To  his  Father. 

New  York,  Feb.  7,  1854. 

My  dear  Father:  How  do  you  do  this  winter 
weather?  It  is  fearfully  cold,  though  now  very 
pleasant  with  us.  I  am  very  hard  at  work,  and  our 
enterprise  is  remarkably  successful.  It  has  become 
the  habit  or  mode  with  the  better  classes  to  work 
thus  among  the  poor.  The  very  success  is  danger- 
ous to  me,  .  .  .  and  I  run  the  danger  of  merely 
being  a  benevolent  and  bepraised  young  man.  How- 
ever, I  shall  work  out  of  it.  I  am  determined  to  do 
it,  and  to  keep  up  my  old  study,  etc.  .  .  .  We  are 
going  on  well  in  our  society,  as  you  will  judge. 
This  Newsboys'  lodging-house  is  the  thing,  I  hope. 
I  am  house-hunting  for  the  3'ear;  rents  are  enormous. 
We  want  a  half-house  or  a  suite  of  rooms  for  three 
hundred  dollars,  if  possible.  Do  not  mention  about 
my  going  out  to  Europe.  If  I  should  bring  L. 
back,  I  would  try  to  land  in  Boston,  so  that  we 
might  be  among  our  family  first.  You  would  meet 
us  there.  It  will  be  close  shaving  for  me  to  live 
here  with  a  wife,  but  it  can  be  done,  and  L.  is  used 
to  moderate  circumstances,  though  vastly  better  than 
mine. 

I  am  a  little  distressed  at  the  way  my  education  is 
interrupted.  I  am  giving  up  the  completing  of  my 
talents  and  their  highest  use,  for  this  labor  among 
the  poor.  It  certainly  is  right  now,  but  is  it  for  a 
permanency?  I  am  doubtful.  I  read  and  study 
considerably,  but  then  the  strength  of  the  day  is 
used  up   in   these   thousand  efforts  and  plans  and 


iET.  28]  MARRIAGE  TO  MISS  NEILL  197 

work.  I  keep  up  a  little  editorial  writing  and  lec- 
turing, so  that  I  may  preserve  ray  practice.  My  tastes 
would  lead  me  to  preach,  study,  and  write  for  the 
papers,  especially  to  preach  to  the  poor.  The  sin  of 
intellectual  men  in  New  York  is  to  sacrifice  the 
future  for  the  present. 

To  Theodore  Parker  he  writes  in  June,  1854:  — 

"I  have  concluded  to  sail  for  England  in  the 
course  of  this  month,  with  the  especial  object  of  see- 
ing the  ragged  schools,  charitable  institutions,  model 
lodging-houses,  etc.,  etc.,  in  London  and  Liverpool. 
Could  you  help  me  with  letters  ?  I  want,  too,  to 
meet  the  refugees,  Mazzini,  Ronge,  and  others.  Do 
you  feel  at  liberty  to  introduce  me  to  any?  And  so 
with  Newman?  Don't  do  it,  unless  you  feel  at  per- 
fect liberty." 

Though  Mr.  Brace's  words  about  the  projected 
Irish  visit  are  few,  it  was  with  the  hope  of  bring- 
ing back  Miss  Letitia  Neill  with  him,  as  his  wife, 
that  he  started  for  Belfast.  His  suit  with  the 
young  lady  was  successful,  and  after  a  short  en- 
gagement, they  were  married  on  Aug.  21,  1851. 
The  fact  that  this  young  man  came  from  so  very  far 
away  was  stimulating  to  the  imagination  of  the 
clergyman  who  performed  the  ceremony,  and  Mr. 
Brace  used  often  to  laugh  over  the  infliction  he  had 
to  bear,  standing  half  an  hour  with  his  bride  by  his 
side  during  the  ceremony,  while  he  listened  to  an 


198  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1854 

enumeration  of  the  merits  of  the  young  lady  and 
her  family,  and  warnings  for  them  both,  from  the 
clergyman!  However,  it  was  over,  and  the  young 
couple,  after  a  trip  to  the  Giant's  Causeway, 
sailed,  early  in  September,  for  Boston,  where  they 
were  welcomed  by  his  relatives,  Mr.  Charles  G, 
Loring's  family,  and  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Asa  Gray.  Mrs. 
Gray  had,  in  the  meantime,  furnished  their  home 
for  them  in  New  York.  Mrs.  Brace  entered  at  once 
into  the  work  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  visiting 
one  of  the  schools,  and  teaching.  Her  sympathy  in 
all  her  husband's  efforts  to  lessen  the  suffering  in  the 
great,  growing  city  was  assured,  for  she  had  thrown 
herself  heart  and  soul  into  the  Rasfged  School  work  in 
Belfast,  and  came  to  America  with  a  deep  sense  of 
consecration  to  the  work  to  which  his  life  was  already 
dedicated.  The  buoyant  temperament  she  brought 
from  the  quiet  life  in  the  old  country  was  a  vast  aid 
to  him.  Discouragement  was  not  within  the  possi- 
bilities of  her  comprehension,  and  in  her  hopeful  and 
trusting  manner  of  taking  whatever  came,  lay,  in 
large  degree,  the  secret  of  his  courage  during  the 
years  to  come,  as  well  as  of  her  own.  Her  readiness 
to  accept  at  once  all  the  duties  and  interests  in  this 
new,  full  life,  is  shown  in  a  very  characteristic 
story.  On  the  day  of  their  arrival  in  New  York, 
while  her  trunks  were  being  unpacked,  the  husband 
came  in,  saying,  "  Well,  dear,  I  think  we  had  better 


^T.  28]  HOME  LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK  199 

go  now  and  see  the  Fourth  Ward  School."  Per- 
fectly read3%  off  she  went,  to  the  profound  astonish- 
ment of  his  friends. 

The  letters  written  during  the  winter  before  re- 
veal that  he  was  undecided  as  to  the  best  course  to 
pursue  in  his  own  future  career.  He  still  longed 
for  a  life  of  study  and  of  influence  through  the 
pulpit,  although  he  was  constantly  more  drawn  to 
this  great  labor  for  the  friendless  and  homeless  in 
New  York.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage,  the  two 
years  to  which  he  had  pledged  himself  were  drawing 
to  a  close,  and  Mrs.  Brace's  firm  conviction  that  in 
the  work  of  the  society  lay  his  largest  field  of  use- 
fulness, decided  him  upon  remaining.  The  influ- 
ences she  cast  upon  this  side,  and  his  own  convic- 
tions, must  have  thus  early  settled  the  question 
finally,  for  there  is  no  word  in  later  correspondence 
to  indicate  that  the  matter  was  ever  farther  consid- 
ered. 

In  January,  1855,  Mr.  Brace  writes  to  his  sister- 
in-law  in  Ireland,  Miss  Eliza  Neill,  a  short  letter 
which  allows  us  a  glimpse  of  the  happy  little  home 
in  New  York :  — 

"My  home  is  very  sweet  and  genial  to  me,"  he 
says,  "and  gives  my  restless  life  a  thorough  rest 
and  peace.  We  give  little  entertainments  to  the 
best  people  without  any  pretence  or  expense,  and 
are  a  good  deal  invited,  and  see  as  much  society  as 


200  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1855 

is  best.  I  am  trying  each  day  to  bring  our  life  into 
more  quiet  and  deep  channels,  at  the  same  time  that 
it  is  cheerful  and  social.  I  know  that  you  would 
like  best  that  I  should  speak  of  myself,  so  I  will  go 
on  with  my  experiences.  I  find  this  quiet  and  life- 
at-home  gives  me  more  earnest  thoughts,  and 
strengthens  the  unceasing  hopes  I  have  of  becoming 
something  better,  so  that  now  the  old  vision  and 
dream  of  a  noble  and  elevated  life  attends  me  all  the 
while  some  days,  and  though  perhaps  never  uttered 
or  talked  or  written  of,  goes  on  with  the  other  every- 
day life  of  the  world,  like  a  glorious  atmosphere. 
How  wonderfully  life  seems  contrived  by  the  great 
Creator!  Everything,  almost,  is  solved,  if  you  grasp 
the  idea  that  all  is  for  the  education  of  character. 
These  petty  rubs  and  disappointments  and  tests  of 
temper  and  joys  and  sudden  occurrences  and  strange 
experiences  and  unaccountable  reverses  or  good  for- 
tunes are  all  clear  as  noonday,  if  you  think  of  that 
one  purpose,  and  of  the  glorious  Being  they  are  to 
fit  you  to  be  like.  And  in  no  other  way  could  I 
escape  great  doubts  and  sadness,  and  with  that  faith 
I  seem  ready  for  misfortune  or  joy,  and  not  to  be 
much  shaken  by  either.  Most  men  end  life  as  chil- 
dren come  out  of  years  in  a  manufactory,  with  one 
part  of  the  body  very  much  developed,  and  the  rest 
dwarfed  or  stunted.  But  life  was  meant  to  round 
us  out,  to  try  and  test  and  invigorate  every  part, — 
affection,  intellect,  slvill,  energy,  hope,  love,  truth, 
and  all.  All  things  must  turn  out  well  to  one  who 
loves  God.  The  saddest  is  to  see  noble  persons  who 
never  get  the  true  lessons  from  their  misfortunes  or 
their  successes,  and  to  whom  all  things  do  not  turn 


^T.  28]     THE  FATE  OF  STREET  CHILDREN  201 

out  well.     But  what  a  Sunday  evening  lecture  I  am 
writing  you!  " 

Mr.  Brace's  realization  of  the  terrible  fate  of  the 
street  children  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  deep- 
ened every  day.  He  puts  before  us,  in  a  few  vivid 
words,  the  condition  in  which  they  live,  with  no 
home,  or  at  best  the  corner  of  a  garret  or  cellar,  cold 
and  drenched  and  hungry  all  day,  and  pushed  and 
kicked  and  beaten,  with  no  gratification  of  the  child's 
eager  craving  for  affection  and  with  a  conception  of 
churches  and  religion  as  things  only  of  the  upper 
classes.  He  states  his  deep  conviction  that  in  spite 
of  these  things,  childhood  is  never  to  be  despaired 
of.  He  tells  us,  again  and  again,  that  the  great 
aim  of  the  society  is  to  influence  character,  that  its 
principle  is  not  in  giving,  but  in  helping.  The 
annual  reports  of  these  days  are  interesting  reading, 
dwelling,  as  they  do  repeatedly,  on  the  great  princi- 
ples of  self-help  and  development  of  character,  now, 
in  these  later  days,  accepted  as  the  foundation  prin- 
ciples of  all  worthy  philanthropy.  As  the  strongest 
influences,  he  puts  religious  motives,  alluding  to  the 
"  industrial  and  moral  agencies  as  partial,  the  relig- 
ious as  more  thorough  and  lasting."  In  pleading 
for  the  superiority  of  a  home  life  in  the  West  for  the 
child,  he  says  that  it  is  often  plain  that  no  human 
power  can  save  these  street  children  if  left  in  their 
own  surroundings,  and  pictures  the  change  to  "  pure 


202  CHARLES  LORINf^  BRACE  [1855 

country  air,  instead  of  the  gases  of  sewers,  trees  and 
fields  and  harvests  in  place  of  narrow  alleys.  .  .  . 
His  first  circumstances  will  favor  his  bei]ig  an  honest 
man."  And,  finally,  he  claims  that,  "it  helps  to 
solve,  in  the  only  feasible  mode,  the  great  economic 
problem  of  poverty  in  our  cities,  for  it  sends  future 
laborers  where  they  are  in  demand,  and  relieves  the 
overcrowded  market  in  the  city."  The  patience  and 
kindness  shown  the  children  by  those  who  took  them, 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  was  a  souice  of 
great  gratitude  to  the  society.  Mr.  Brace  believed 
fully  that  the  system  of  not  requiring  indentures 
was  a  wise  one.  More  spontaneous  kindness  on  the 
one  side,  and  a  more  natural  relation  between  both 
parties,  was  what  he  expected  as  a  result,  and  it  was 
justified  by  experience.  But  while  a  relation  of 
mutual  affection  was  hoped  for,  it  did  not  follow 
that  because  child  and  employer  were  legally  free 
from  responsibility,  the  child  was  therefore  left  with- 
out a  natural  protector.  The  assistant  secretary  in 
the  office  in  New  York  was  in  constant  communica- 
tion with  the  children  sent  out  by  the  society,  and 
tried  to  keep  himself  informed  of  every  change  in 
the  boys'  careers,  both  through  letters  and  through 
visits  of  the  Western  agents.  The  vast  importance 
of  individual  influence  was  ever  before  Mr.  Brace's 
mind,  and  he  says :  "  The  last  thing  we  would  lose, 
as  our  enterprise  gradually  expands,  is  this  Individ- 


JEx.  28]  WORK  OF   THE  SCHOOLS  203 

ual  and  personal  concern  in  every  poor,  friendless 
creature  who  goes  out  from  us  to  his  new  home  and 
better  life." 

As  the  work  among  the  children  in  the  city  by 
means  of  industrial  schools  progressed,  Mr.  Brace  was 
brought  into  contact  with  natures  whose  depths  of 
wickedness,  and  others  whose  heights  of  disinterest- 
edness and  courage,  amazed  him.  They  are  not  chil- 
dren emotionally  or  executively.  The  power  of 
passion  was  appalling  to  him.  But  the  daily,  normal 
life  of  the  schools  was  by  degrees  tempering  their 
overwrought  natures,  and  when  the  agents  had  won 
the  confidence  of  parents  and  persuaded  them  that 
the  children  were  to  be  supplied  with  clothes  for 
good  behavior,  and  otherwise  cared  for,  the  attend- 
ance was  generally  regular  enough  to  effect  gradu- 
ally some  change  in  the  child.  He  claimed  with 
justifiable  satisfaction  that  schools  which,  like  the 
Fourth  Ward,  began  in  fearful  disorder,  became  like 
attentive,  affectionate  family  schools.  "They  can 
read  and  sew ;  some  can  write.  Sweet  songs  of  purity 
and  religion  are  learned,  which  are  sung  again  in 
their  squalid  homes ;  a  purer  and  kindlier  expression 
has  seated  itself  on  many  faces.  Some  have  been 
sent  away  to  homes  in  the  country,  some  to  the  pub- 
lic schools."  The  agencies  accomplishing  these 
results,  Mr.  Brace  ascribes  both  to  the  faithful  em- 
ployed teachers,  and  to  the  volunteers.     The  refine- 


204  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1855 

ment  and  intellectual  culture  of  these  women  ^ 
gained  over  the  poor  children  just  the  influence  Mr. 
Brace  had  hoped  they  would.     He  says :  — 

"Nor  is  this  all  the  fruit.  This  work  has  often 
blessed  the  giver  as  much  as  the  receiver.  It  is  the 
great  evil  of  our  city  life  that  classes  become  so  sep- 
arated. Union  Square  or  the  Avenues  know  as 
little  of  Water  Street  or  Cherry  Street  as  if  they 
were  different  cities.  The  poor  and  the  rich  are 
forming  almost  castes  toward  one  another.  These 
schools  make  one  link  between  them.  No  lady  can 
long  attend  these  classes,  hear  the  little  story  of  the 
rag-picker  or  the  beggar,  become  familiar  with  their 
petty  joys  and  troubles,  anrl  afterwards  pass  one  of 
them  in  rags  and  dust  in  the  street,  as  indifferently 
as  before.  They  are  no  longer  parts  of  street  scenery 
like  the  animals.  They  become  human  beings,  with 
warm  hearts,  and  souls  formed  for  an  immortal 
destiny.  It  is  the  true  fruit  of  Christian  labor  for 
the  needy.  Nor  is  it  too  much  given  for  the  object 
gained.  It  is  the  very  idea  of  Christianity  that  the 
highest  acquisitions  of  the  intellect  and  the  heart  — 
our  refinement  and  culture  and  civilization  —  should 
be  consecrated  to  the  poorest  and  most  degraded  of 
our  fellow-creatures.  It  is  but  a  poor  imitation  of 
what  Christ  has  done  for  men."^ 

1  It  may  be  of  interest  to  the  people  of  our  city  to  see  how  early 
names  associated  since  with  many  a  good  work  appeared  in  this 
society.  Among  the  early  directresses  were  Mrs.  G.  L.  Schuyler, 
Mrs.  E.  D.  Morgan,  Miss  Livingston,  the  Misses  Hamilton,  Mrs. 
Willard  Parker,  Mrs.  Moses  H.  Grinell,  Mrs.  W.  Roosevelt,  and  a 
score  of  others.  2  Second  Annual  Report,  p.  11. 


^T.  29]  LETTER  TO  HIS  WIFE  205 

Mr.  Brace  took  a  much-needed  rest  from  his  ardu- 
ous labors,  in  a  trip  to  the  Adirondack  woods  in 
the  summer  of  1855,  and  we  have  from  there  his 
first  letter  to  his    wife. 


ScHROON,  Tuesday  eve.,  Aug.  21,  1855. 

My  dearest  Wife  :  How  I  have  thought  of  you  and 
a  year  ago!  It  has  been  a  transcendent  day,  more 
glorious  even  than  the  Irish  twenty-first.  I  have 
looked  into  the  infinite  sky,  and  my  soul  has  seemed 
to  waft  blessings  to  you.  I  have  been  in  a  continual 
prayer,  as  it  were,  for  you  and  our  union.  Oh!  how 
I  hope  the  years  may  bring  our  souls  into  a  more 
perfect  oneness,  and  that  I  shall  make  you  as  happy 
as  I  wish!  It  is  strange  to  think  we  shall  be  work- 
ing on  the  rough  way  of  life  together,  for  thirty  or 
forty  years  yet,  and  I  may  see  you  old  and  wrinkled, 
and  you  me  decrepit.  But  the  thought  is  delightful 
that  we  shall  be  together,  and  more  ennobled  and 
united  than  ever  in  our  youth.  I  can  almost  see 
your  sweet,  peaceful,  cheerful  face  lighting  up  the 
shaded  path  of  old  age,  and  making  all  things  beauti- 
ful. God  will  perhaps  grant  us  the  mercy  of  a  grow- 
ing and  purifying  love,  but  it  will  be,  of  course, 
through  much  tribulation.  I  know  you  will  bear  it 
better  than  I.  .  .  .  Have  we  not,  dearest,  been 
happy  at  least?  And  under  God,  we  shall  hope  to 
have  even  better  and  happier  days.  But  I  must 
grow  more  Christian,  if  it  is  so.  .  .  .  I  wrote  twice 
from  Burlington  on  Monday  to  you.  ...  I  hope 
you  will  be  reading. 


206  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1855 

To  the  Same. 

[Summer,  1855.  In  the  Adirondacks.] 
My  dearest  Wife :  How  I  have  wished  for  you  in 
this  beautiful  scenery  and  these  fine  mountain  nights ! 
As  I  contrast  my  feelings  with  former  times  on  such 
trips,  I  find  how  much  more  at  rest  and  happy  I  am. 
Such  a  sense  of  companionship  and  permanent  in- 
terest in  the  world,  as  if  I  really  had  some  connec- 
tion with  the  soil  of  the  world  and  this  life.  I  think 
I  was,  in  my  heart  of  hearts,  unsatisfied  and  weary, 
or  sick.  You  seem  so  beautiful  when  I  think  of  you 
in  the  midst  of  the  mountains  here — so  delicate  and 
noble  and  self-sacrificing. 

P.S.  — I  have  received  an  offer  of  a  ticket  to  the 
excursion  to  Newfoundland  from  Cyrus  Field  (cost 
of  a  ticket  one  hundred  dollars),  to  lay  the  first  sub- 
marine telegraph.     Can't  go. 

During  the  winter  of  1855,  one  of  the  most  far- 
reaching  influences  for  good  in  the  work  of  the 
industrial  schools  was  begun  among  the  Italians. 
Mr.  Brace  had  for  some  time  been  exploring  the 
Italian  quarter  of  the  Five  Points,  and  had  found 
there  a  most  miserable  condition  of  poverty  and  dirt. 
Being  given  up  to  wretched  street  trades  of  organ- 
grinding  and  statuette-selling,  would  have  been  bad 
enough  for  the  children ;  but  worse  than  this  was  a 
custom  among  the  people  far  away  in  Italy,  of  allow- 
ing their  little  ones  to  be  indentured  to  a  bureau  in 


^T.  20]  THE   "PADRONE"   SYSTEM  207 

Paris,  which  sent  them  over  the  world  at  the  mercy 
of  a  master,  often  cruel  to  a  degree,  called  a  "pa- 
drone." These  masters  used  the  children  to  work 
upon  the  hearts  of  a  tender-hearted  community,  by 
playing  musical  instruments,  and  they  were  often  to 
be  seen  carrying  enormous  harps,  and  playing  them 
in  the  streets  late  into  the  night.  For  years,  Mr. 
Brace  worked  to  break  up  this  traffic,  and  finally,  in 
1873,  the  Italian  Parliament  abolished  it  completely. 
That  the  government  in  Italy  appreciated  these 
labors  for  their  little  fellow-countrymen  in  New 
York,  was  testified  by  a  medal,  sent,  in  1873,  from 
King  Humbert  to  Mr.  Brace.  The  children  of  the 
Italian  quarter  were  bright-eyed  and  intelligent- 
looking,  and  Mr.  Brace  was  convinced  that  much 
might  be  done  for  them.  To  open  a  day  school 
seemed  at  first  impossible,  for  the  parents  and  mas- 
ters counted  on  the  earnings  of  the  children  who 
blacked  boots,  sold  flowers,  swept  crossings,  and 
in  one  way  and  another  added  their  mite  to  the 
family  support  by  means,  however,  to  which  Mr. 
Brace  was  strongly  opposed.  Early  in  December, 
1855,  Mr.  Cerqua,  an  Italian  gentleman,  a  Protes- 
tant and  patriot,  went  with  Mr.  Brace  to  visit  among 
the  homes  of  these  people,  to  announce  the  fact  that 
a  night  school  was  to  be  opened  for  the  children 
living  about  the  Five  Points  Square.  It  began  with 
an  attendance  of  thirty  scholars,  of  whom  but  two 


208  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1856 

could  read  a  little  in  Italian  —  not  one  in  English. 
But  this  small  number  soon  dwindled,  and  became 
so  insignificant  that  it  was  deemed  advisable  in  the 
spring  to  close  the  school.  Mr.  Brace  determined 
to  find  out  the  cause  of  this  falling-off  in  numbers, 
and  by  much  visiting  and  cautious  investigation 
discovered  that  a  fear  of  efforts  to  convert  the  chil- 
dren was  at  the  bottom  of  the  trouble.  Persuasion 
and  assurances  that  there  was  no  truth  in  the  rumor 
of  an  attempt  to  convert  them  from  their  own  Church 
not  being  sufficiently  successful,  Mr.  Brace  tried 
promises  of  shoes  and  clothing  to  pupils  who  would 
attend  for  three  months  consecutively.  But  it  was 
up-hill  work.  A  few  came  steadily,  but  the  major- 
ity were  irregular,  and  it  was  evident  that  the 
attempt  was  still  regarded  with  suspicion  and  dis- 
favor. An  Italian  priest  flung  anathemas  at  all  who 
permitted  their  children  to  attend  the  schools,  and 
Mr.  Brace's  efforts  to  reason  with  him  through  a 
deputation  of  his  oldest  scholars,  and  to  persuade 
some  of  the  most  superstitious  families,  seemed  of  no 
avail  against  the  universal  prejudice  and  ignorance. 
One  day,  however,  tidings  came  that  the  priest  had 
disappeared,  carrying  with  him  funds  he  had  col- 
lected under  the  pretence  of  opening  a  rival  school. 
This  ended  the  opposition.  A  reaction  set  in,  and 
the  night  classes  w^  ere  again  opened,  never  after  this 
to  be  closed.     Years  of  efforts  on  Mr.  Brace's  part 


CHARLES    LORING     BRACE. 

AGED.     29     YEARS 


^T.  20]     LETTER  TO  SIR  CHARLES   LYELL  209 

—  efforts  to  arouse  the  self-respect  of  the  parents,  to 
make  them  see  the  material  advantages  to  the  cliil- 
dren  of  being  well  trained  for  a  good  trade,  instead 
of  being  left  to  make  a  mere  pittance  at  the  street 
trades  —  finally  bore  fruit,  and  the  children  were  per- 
mitted to  attend  day  schools.  The  tone  of  the 
neighborhood  improved,  and  when  in  1872,  in  his 
book,  "Tlie  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  Mr. 
Brace  gives  his  most  interesting  description  of  the 
foundation  of  this  school,  he  says  that  those  among 
the  Italians  who  follow  decent  vocations  and  attend 
day  schools,  either  are  or  have  been  pupils  of  the 
society,  while  the  organ-grinders,  beggars,  and  va- 
grants have  not  attended  at  all,  or,  at  most,  for  a  few 
weeks.  Now,  in  1894,  the  chief  Italian  school  num- 
bers over  seven  hundred  and  fifty  scholars. 

The  only  letters  of  this  winter  are  as  follows :  — 

To  Sir  Charles  Lyell. 

New  York,  Feb.  8,  1856. 

My  dear  Sir  Charles ;  .  .  .  Lady  Lyell  will  be 
interested  to  know  that  our  enterprises  among  the 
poor  children  are  becoming  better  founded  all  the 
while.  We  have  all  nations  represented  in  them: 
one  school  for  Germans,  another  for  Italians,  etc. 
We  have  just  opened,  too,  a  "Reading  and  Coffee- 
Room "  for  workingmen,  which  we  hope  will  be  a 
sort  of  temptation  to  virtue  to  our  young  median- 


210  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1856 

ics.  Thousands  of  our  young  men  are  ruined  by 
having  no  healthy  phice  of  amusement,  and  we  are 
determined,  if  possible,  to  give  some  attractions  to 
virtue  and  soberness.  Still,  all  these  things  are 
experiments.  I  look  on  our  common  schools  and 
our  field  of  free  labor  as  vastly  better  curatives  for 
our  evils  than  all  these  expedients. 

Mr.  O.  will  inform  you  best  of  our  present  politi- 
cal condition.  There  are  some  very  alarming  feat- 
ures just  now,  and  we  apprehend  a  bloody  collision 
in  Kansas  next  spring.  There  is  something  to  a 
statesman  ominous  and  sad,  almost,  in  these  first 
collisions  which  are  to  go  on  for  centuries  perhaps, 
and  which  may  utterly  shatter  our  Republic.  But 
it  is  right.  Justice  avenges  herself,  and  our  fall 
may  be  one  step  in  the  progress  of  mankind. 


To  Theodore  Parker. 

[Winter,  1855-56.] 
My  dear  Sir :  "We  have  been  hoping  all  the  autumn 
to  see  you  at  Hastings ;  but  now  we  are  in  the  city, 
we  trust  you  will  certainly  give  us  a  day  or  two,  and 
then,  you  know,  you  may  meet  Mr.  Ripley  at  break- 
fast! ...  I  am  anxious  to  talk  over  some  ethno- 
graphic matters  with  you.  I  have  been  deep  in  the 
"  Historical  Sagas  of  Scandinavia  "  (in  translation). 
You  know,  of  course,  "Snorri  Sturlason,"  and  the 
Danish  poem  "  Frithiof  "  ?  Have  you  seen  Mallet's 
work  on  "  Scandinavian  Antiquities  "  ?  Last  sum- 
mer I  groped  through  Miiller's  "  Geschichte  der  Nord 
Amerikanischen   Ur-Religionen  "  —  dry  as  dust  of 


iEx.  29]  REVISITING  IRELAND  211 

ages,  but  curious.     I  have  noAv  got  hold  of  Duncke, 
one  of  the  best  on  Eastern  religions. 

The  good  fight  approacheth  in  Kansas.  Thank 
God  for  Sharpe's  rifles! 

A  word  should  be  given  here  to  the  breakfast- 
parties,  which  were  so  simple  and  unique  as  to 
deserve  note.  They  were  at  eight  o'clock,  with  one 
little  maid  to  wait  upon  the  company,  and  consisted, 
as  far  as  the  meal  went,  of  coffee,  chops,  and  waffles. 
At  one  time  Starr  King  held  the  party  entertained  for 
hours  with  accounts  of  the  curious  people  he  encoun- 
tered in  his  lecturing  tours ;  at  another  Parker  and 
Ripley  amused  the  company  with  their  witticisms ; 
again,  some  one  aroused  Mr.  Beecher,  while  Emer- 
son was  ever  faithful  when  on  visits  to  New  York. 
Years  after,  Mr.  Ripley  used  to  say,  "  Ah,  Mrs.  Brace, 
why  don't  we  have  some  more  of  those  breakfast- 
parties?     Rogers's  table-talk  wasn't  half  so  good." 

In  May,  1856,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brace  started  with 
their  son  of  a  year  old  for  a  summer  abroad,  first 
going  to  Ireland  to  visit  the  family  there.  Mr.  Brace 
left  his  wife  and  child  in  Belfast,  and  went  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  met  Miss  Carpenter  and  many  others 
interested  in  charities,  and  then,  leaving  the  baby 
with  the  Irish  aunts,  he  made  with  Mrs.  Brace  a 
never-forgotten  trip  to  the  North  Cape.  As  usual, 
studies  of  the  people  absorbed  him,  and  he  made  a 
hasty  journey  in  Sweden. 


212  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1856 

We  have  only  a  few  words  on  his  hurried  visit  in 
England,  and  then  the  Norwegian  trip  began,  of 
which  he  writes  at  length  in  his  book,  "  The  Norse 
Folk." 

To  his  Father. 

Arctic  Ocean,  near  69°  30', 
Coast  of  Norway,  July  11,  1856. 

My  dear  Father :  We  are  on  a  steamer  returning 
from  Hammerfest  to  Drontheim,  past  this  wild  and 
stormy  coast  scenery  among  islands  and  through 
fjords  —  one  of  the  most  interesting  trips  I  ever 
took.  We  have  stopped  at  the  towns  and  seen 
something  of  the  people, —  a  very  staunch,  intelli- 
gent nation.  We  found  at  Hammerfest  no  tree  or 
shrub  (Lat.  70°  40')  but  the  yellow  wild  violet  and 
coarse  ranunculus  and  pink  heather  and  mulberry- 
flowers  and  a  few  buttercups.  Snow,  even  in  the 
valleys,  and  July  4th  we  sailed  through  snowstorms. 
I  hope  to  get  you  some  Arctic  flowers,  or  at  least 
Norwegian,  if  you  can  exchange. 

My  course  from  London  was  to  Hamburg,  Copen- 
hagen, and  Christiania,  where  I  met  Letitia,  and  we 
posted  overland  to  Drontheim,  —  a  delightful  jour- 
ney in  little  carrioles  (sulkies),  and  getting  your 
horses  from  post.  This  journey  from  D.  to  H.  and 
back  takes  thirteen  days,  so  that  I  have  heard  noth- 
ing as  yet  from  America.  I  hope  you  have  written, 
and  that  you  are  well.  What  a  horrid  state  you  are 
in  now  in  America.  It  is  fearful.  I  hope  the  North 
will  be  staunch.  ...  So  far  I  am  delighted  with 
the  journey,  both  the  pleasure  and  experience  gained. 


iEx.  30]  THE  SWEDISH  SCHOOLS  213 

The  sight  of  the  midnight  sun  was  a  "splendid 
spectacle,"  on  which  he  enlarges  in  his  book,  and 
he  speaks  of  "the  gloriously  long  days,  when  you 
are  always  ahead  of  your  work,  and  time  never 
overtakes  you." 

Of  the  industrial  work  in  the  Swedish  schools  he 
says  in  "  The  Norse  Folk  "  :  — 

"  I  have  been  visiting  with  my  friend  the  various 
charitable  institutions  of  Gottenburg,  among  these, 
the  Willinska  school  for  the  poor,  .  .  .  The  mana- 
gers had  employed  the  plan  so  successfully  carried 
out  in  New  York,  of  sending  the  children  away 
to  be  placed  in  reliable  and  religious  families,  rather 
than  keep  them  in  an  asylum.  They  had  now,  how- 
ever, connected  with  it  the  method  of  constant  com- 
munication with  these  children  thus  sent  out,  as  has 
been  done  at  home  with  such  excellent  results.  The 
Chalmerska  Skolan  is  a  higher  class  of  school,  being 
a  kind  of  polytechnique  school  for  laborers  and 
mechanics.  Here  drawing  and  modelling  are  taught, 
and  various  natural  sciences.  There  are  laboratories 
and  well-furnished  rooms  of  philosophical  instru- 
ments connected  with  it,  together  with  a  reading- 
room.  The  whole  is  free  for  workingmen!  An 
institution  so  enlightened  neither  New  York  nor 
Boston  yet  has." 

The  two  letters  which  follow  show  us  his  continued 
enjoyment  of  this  trip. 


214  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1856 

To  Theodore  Parker. 

Leksand,  Dalecarlia,  Sunday,  Aug.  24,  1856. 
My  dear  Parker :  .  .  .  There  is  an  extraordinaiy 
religiosity  in  the  people.  I  suspect  the  Lutheran 
service  and  ritual  is  much  better  suited  to  their  state 
of  development  than  our  Reformed  Calvinistic  in 
America  would  be.  In  the  parishes,  the  religion 
seems  also  a  practical  principle.  The  sobriety  and 
virtue  (sexual)  are  remarkable,  and  a  thief  is  almost 
an  unknown  individual.  .  .  .  Sweden  is  a  most 
complicated  country;  a  study,  all  of  it,  much  more 
than  Norway.  This  queer  old  Constitution,  the 
product  of  struggles  between  cities  and  priests  and 
nobles  and  king,  has  served  to  protect  the  people  in 
individual  rights,  but  has  choked  up  individual 
development.  The  peasants  are  as  aristocratic  and 
independent  in  their  own  circle  as  the  nobles,  and 
are  the  best  possible  stuff  for  a  future  republic,  but 
they  are  ignorant  and  old-fashioned.  The  curse  of 
the  Church  is  its  bigotry.  Even  enlightened  men 
are  centuries  behind  in  this.  I  think  the  majority 
would  like  to  dispose  of  a  Baptist  as  some  people  in 
America  would  of  Theodore  Parker.  There  are  some 
disgraceful  persecutions  going  on. 

To  his  Wife. 

Stockholm,  Aug.  12,  1856. 

Dearest  Wife :  .  .  .  The  weather  has  been  like 
winter  here  till  to-day,  but  now  it  is  splendid  and 
cool.     A  beautiful  city.     Such  sails  and  views  and 


iET.  30]  ISOLATION  OF   THE  POOR  215 

parks  for  walking!  The  most  picturesque  park  in 
Europe.  ...  I  have  been  so  impelled  lately  by  the 
expression,  "  Bring  every  thought  into  captivity  to 
Christ."  It  is  so  sweet  to  have  them  chained,  cap- 
tured to  Christ.  I  have  Ijeen  lately  so  ashamed  and 
struck  down  in  reading  that  tremendous,  earnest  life 
of  Paul  written  in  his  letters.  Christ,  I  do  not  even 
lift  my  eyes  to.  It  seems  as  if  the  fearful  experiences 
of  my  life  had  been  thrown  away,  that  it  should  only 
bring  me  to  this.  I  say,  O  God!  that  I  should  think 
of  wealth  or  honor  or  fame  or  friendship  as  my  aim  and 
Thou  and  Eternit}''  all  near  me  since  a  child.  It  is 
a  most  mean  ending.  That  the  visions  of  God  which 
have  surrounded  me  like  an  atmosphere,  and  the 
stern  lessons  from  Him,  and  my  own  infinite  hopes 
should  end  in  such  a  pitiful  result.  However,  I 
have  good  hope.  God  is  a  friend  to  the  poor  soal. 
Perhaps  the  best  way  to  Him  is  through  disappoint- 
ment and  humiliation.     God  bless  you,  dear  heart. 

He  rejoined  his  little  family  at  the  end  of  August, 
and  together  they  returned  to  America. 

Mr.  Brace  tells  us  in  early  reports  that  one  of  the 
surprising  features  in  the  life  of  the  poor,  which  he 
realizes  more  as  he  familiarizes  himself  with  this 
class,  is  the  entire  solitude  and  desertion  into  which 
a  human  being  can  come  in  a  great  city.  It  would 
seem  as  if  the  outcast  girl,  the  homeless,  ragged  boy, 
would  know  where  to  go  when  in  destitution,  but 
experience  has  proved  that  they  do  not.     The  great 


216  CHARLES  LORIN^G  BRACE  [1856 

work  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  is  that  it  is  a 
connecting'  link  between  the  fortunate  and  unfor- 
tunate,  that  the  visitors  who  explore  the  docks  and 
low  lodging-houses,  the  dark  lanes  and  dirty  alleys 
of  the  lower  town,  come  on  desperate  individuals  to 
whom  it  has  never  occurred  that  there  may  be  help 
anywhere.  The  visitor  is  thus  valuable,  even  when 
unable  to  produce  any  direct  result  from  his  discov- 
eries, at  least  in  publishing  to  the  unfortunate  that 
there  is  a  place  where,  in  extremity,  a  home  and  a 
chance  for  honest  labor  may  be  found. 

The  condition  of  New  York  in  1856-57  must  have 
been  such  as  we  can  now  little  realize.  We  hear  of 
children  half -grown  to  maturity  as  "attacking  the 
unwary  stranger  or  citizen,  robbing  houses,  injur- 
ing the  value  of  property,  and  affecting  the  fame  of 
our  city  through  the  whole  land."  Mr.  Brace  re- 
proaches the  public  in  strong  and  severe  terms  in  his 
report,  in  1857,  that  there  should  be  thought  any- 
thing surprising  in  this.  How  could  it  be  other- 
wise? Some  things,  to  be  sure,  had  been  done;  help 
had  come  to  the  Children's  Aid  Society  from  many 
channels ;  the  police  and  the  authorities  of  the  city 
had  been  friendly;  the  religious  part  of  the  commu- 
nity had  esj)ecially  begun  to  feel  its  responsibilities 
more.  But  the  work  was  small  compared  with  the 
evil.  In  the  meantime,  what  other  result  was  to  be 
expected  from  the  neglected  members  of  society  now 


^T.  30]         IMPORTANCE  OF  EDUCATIOX  217 

grown  to  maturity?  Why  should  the  "street-rat," 
as  the  police  called  him,  be  expected  to  consider  with 
reverence  a  civilization  from  which  he  received  no 
benefit? 

"Is  not  this  crop  of  thieves  and  burglars,  of 
shoulder-hitters  and  short-boys,  of  prostitutes  and 
vagrants,  of  garroters  and  murderers,  the  very  fruit 
to  be  expected  from  this  seed  so  long  being  sown? 
What  else  was  to  be  looked  for?  Society  hurried  on 
selfishly  for  its  wealth,  and  left  this  vast  class  in 
its  misery  and  temptation.  Now  these  children 
arise,  and  wrest  back  with  bloody  and  criminal  hands 
what  the  world  was  too  careless  or  too  selfish  to  give. 
The  worldliness  of  the  rich,  the  indifference  of  all 
classes  to  the  poor,  will  always  be  avenged.  Society 
must  act  on  the  highest  principles,  or  its  punishment 
incessantly  comes  within  itself.  The  neglect  of  the 
poor  and  tempted  and  criminal  is  fearfully  repaid."^ 

In  presenting  the  means  which  should  be  used  to 
improve  this  deplorable  state  of  things,  he  dwells 
again  on  the  comparative  value  he  puts  upon  educa- 
tion, the  providing  of  labor,  and  the  placing  of  chil- 
dren in  good  homes,  and  still  asserts  his  belief  in 
the  superiority  of  the  plan  of  a  complete  change  of 
surroundings.  The  replies  to  letters  from  the  office 
of  the  society  to  more  than  two  thousand  children 
were  encouraging  to  him  in  the  highest  degree,  and 
he  says  that  the  patience  and  tenderness  shown  by 
1  Fourth  Annual  Report,  p.  6. 


218  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1856 

many  of  the  women  in  Western  homes  to  the  poor 
little  untrained  children  sur^^assed  his  expectations, 
although  his  faith  in  their  motherly  kindness  had 
always  been  strong.  He  pictures  to  us  what  it  must 
be  to  the  vagrant  child  to  sit  at  the  farmer's  board 
like  one  of  his  own  children,  to  go  to  school  with 
them,  to  learn  daily  what  they  consider  proper  and 
right,  and  he  touchingly  says,  "Soon,  perhaps,  for 
the  first  time  in  his  life,  love  begins  to  encircle  the 
little  castaway,  and  he  feels  at  length  there  is  some- 
body in  the  world  who  cares  for  him." 

But  the  great  emigration  work  of  the  society  did 
not  go  on  undisturbed.  It  met  with  intense  and 
bigoted  opposition  from  the  poor  themselves.  They 
maintained  that  it  was  a  proselytizing  work,  and  that 
every  child  taken  was  made  a  Protestant.  All  sorts 
of  stories  were  spread  among  the  most  ignorant,  such 
as  that  the  children  were  sold  as  slaves.  These  were 
the  difficulties  encountered  among  the  poor,  obstacles 
which  sometimes  were  so  insuperable  that  mothers 
preferred  to  see  their  children  sink  to  the  lowest 
depths  of  crime  rather  than  send  them  away.  Among 
a  small  number  of  the  better  classes,  there  was  also 
a  strong  objection  to  the  action  of  the  society  in  this 
particular.  They  believed  that  there  was  danger  of 
spreading  what  they  considered  poison  throughout 
the  West,  and  maintained  that  a  season  of  discipline 
at  an  asylum  or  home  before  sending  the  children  to 


JEt.  30]  JOURNEY  TO   THE  WEST  219 

the  West  was  the  only  safe  course.  The  society  dis- 
agreed in  toto  with  this  view.  They  did  not  consider 
these  children,  wild  as  they  were,  as  criminals,  and 
hence  did  not  think  that  they  should  be  submitted 
to  any  sort  of  imprisonment,  nor  that  there  were  legal 
grounds  for  enclosing  them  in  asylums.  They  also, 
as  has  been  stated,  did  not  believe  that  the  faults  of 
these  children  would  be  corrected,  nor  their  virtues 
nourished,  in  asylum  life;  and  claimed  that  if  chil- 
dren were  thus  kept,  the  exjiense  of  their  mainte- 
nance would  be  enormous,  compared  to  the  trifling 
cost  of  a  temporary  home  in  one  of  the  lodging- 
houses,  and  their  transference  to  the  West.  Reck- 
oning the  cost  of  a  child's  support  in  an  asylum 
for  only  one  3'ear,  the  difference  between  the  two 
methods  of  caring  for  them  was  in  the  proportion 
of  fifteen  dollars  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars ! 
In  1859,  Mr.  Brace  made  a  journey  in  the  West,  in 
order  personally  to  examine  many  cases  where  it  was 
claimed  that  they  were  turning  out  badly.  He  was 
enormously  encouraged  by  what  he  saw,  finding  out 
that  the  number  who  turned  out  badly  was  extremely 
small,  and  that  a  great  mission  work  was  going  on 
throughout  the  States  of  Indiana,  Michigan,  and  Illi- 
nois. He  says,  in  speaking  of  the  faithfulness  of 
the  adopted  parents  to  their  charges :  "  On  this 
journey  we  heard  of  but  one  instance  even  of  neglect. 
We  visited  the  lad,  and  discovered  that  he  had  not 


220  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1856 

been  schooled  as  he  should,  and  had  sometimes  been 
left  alone  at  night  in  the  lonely  log  house.  Yet  this 
had  roused  the  feelings  of  the  whole  countryside. 
We  removed  the  boy  amid  the  tears  and  protestations 
of  the  'father  and  mother,'  and  put  him  in  another 
place.  As  soon  as  we  had  left  the  village,  he  ran 
back  to  his  old  place !  "  ^ 

On  the  last  day  of  1856,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  from 
Cambridge,  whither  he  went  for  a  rest  during  the 
holidays :  — 

"  I  am  having  a  very  quiet,  pleasant  time,  work- 
ing in  the  day  and  dining  out  in  the  evening.  Dined 
to-day  en  famille  at  uncle's,  to-morrow  at  Long- 
fellow's. ...  I  am  struck  with  the  high  tone  of 
women  here.  J —  makes  the  same  deep  impres- 
sion on  me  as  ever.  There  is,  at  times,  a  pure 
and  spiritual  light  in  her  eyes,  such  as  I  never  saw 
on  human  features  beside.  You  get  such  an  impres- 
sion of  a  life  of  a  soul,  an  independent,  lofty  exist- 
ence, or,  at  least,  a  living  in  oneself  as  related  to 
God,  at  the  same  time  that  she  is  so  true  and  faith- 
ful to  the  duties  of  the  life  that  now  is.  There 
ought  to  be  that  in  every  woman.  The  fact  is,  each 
girl  is  poorly  educated,  and  too  much  an  appendage, 
and  does  not  become  enough  an  independent  spirit- 
ual existence. 

"  Well,  dear,  the  old  year  is  dying  out,  soon  to  be 
gone.     I  am  pressed  with  thoughts  and  hopes  —  not 

1  Sixth  Annual  Report,  p.  10. 


^T.  30]  LETTER  TO  HIS  WIFE  221 

many  more  such  times  —  tlie  problem  solving  fast  — 
the  trial  ending.  Somehow  the  skies  of  heaven 
s^obscurent,  the  nearer  I  come  to  them.  How  I  long 
to  be  in  a  purer  atmosphere,  and  yet  to  live  in  the 
fogs  and  damps  about  me,  to  carry  a  heavenly  light 
with  me  and  be  in  the  world,  yet  not  of  it.  God 
help  me  to  see  Him  more  clearly,  and  may  this  year 
be  a  step  to  what  is  better  than  all  things, —  a  higher 
communion  with  Him.  I  sometimes  half  wish  I 
could  be  crippled  or  made  blind,  because  then  I 
should  be  really  separated  from  the  world,  and  could 
know  Christ.  Nothing  but  the  cross  (compelled) 
seems  able  to  raise  me  to  Him.  I  hope  my  disci- 
pline will  not  come  through  the  suffering  of  those 
I  love.  It  is  hard  to  get  rid  of  the  worldly  husk. 
God  bless  you,  dear,  and  a  happy  New  Year!  " 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Appeal  for  a  Night  School  for  Girls  —  Or- 
ganization of  the  School  —  Similar  Associations  in  Other  Cities 

—  Desire  for  Workers  among  Young  Men  —  Letters  and  Papers 
written  during  the  Civil  War — Letters  from  Greeley  and  Seward 

—  Mr.  Brace  goes  South  on  the  Christian  Commission  —  New 
President  of  Children's  Aid  Society  —  Organization  of  First  Girls' 
Lodging-House 

The  beginning  of  1858  finds  Mr.  Brace  again  in 
Cambridge,  whence  he  writes  to  his  wife :  — 

Cambridge,  January,  1858. 

My  dearest  Wife :  .  .  .  What  you  say  of  your 
becoming  like  me,  recalls  what  I  have  been  noticing 
for  some  time,  and  which  has  touched  me  very  much, 
...  I  hope,  dear,  you  will  not  grow  like  me.  I 
like  you  much  better  than  myself.  Do  keep  your 
individuality.  ...  I  have  a  constant  tendency 
towards  the  most  brotherly  attentions  towards  all 
pretty  young  ladies !  And  they  seem  to  abound  here. 
Isn't  it  strange  how  much  every  one  in  the  world  is 
longing  to  love,  and  how  every  one  cannot  get  love 
enough  —  as  if  each  man  should  go  around  with  a 
costly  treasure  to  give  to  any  one,  and  though  every 
one  wanted  it,  none  could  take  it  from  him.  Per- 
haps hereafter  " supply  and  demand  will  be  equal," 
and  attractions   proportioned  to  destinies.   ...     I 

222 


^T.  32]  LIFE  IN  THE  WOODS  223 

had  a  fine  tea-party  at  T.  Parker's,  —  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stowe  and  the  Hales  and  Starr  King  and  hidy,  and 
numbers  of  others. 

The  years  to  which  Ave  are  coming  are  marked  by 
too  few  letters  from  Mr.  Brace,  1858  having  only  the 
two  following,  and  1860  none  at  all.  The  first  of 
those  below  describes  the  wood-life  in  which  he 
passed  his  summers;  the  second  is  an  affectionate 
expression  of  friendship  addressed  to  a  young  sister- 
in-law. 

To  Mrs.  a.  L.  Schuyler. 

Adirondacks,  Aug.  29,  1858. 
My  dear  Friend:  I  was  delighted  to  find  your 
and  Miss  Mary's  notes  here  unconsumed  by  bears 
and  other  wild  animals.  ...  C.  will  give  you  all 
the  particulars  of  our  delightful  journey.  It  has 
been  a  tour  of  beauty  throughout.  It  seems  to  me 
there  is  nothing  in  this  country  so  originally  Ameri- 
can as  the  Adirondack  scenery  and  travel.  I  was 
constantly  sa3dng,  "  This  is  old  Grecian  life  " ;  such 
a  perfect  sensuous  existence.  The  most  exquisite 
and  rounded  beauty  of  landscape,  radiant  sunlight 
and  air  just  suiting  either  exercise  or  basking  in  the 
heat;  then  with  one's  body  in  the  best  condition  to 
enjoy  every  sense  and  constant  contact  with  nature 
in  all  her  best  and  gayest  moods;  swimming  in  such 
delicious  water;  rowing  or  being  silently  boated  in 
the  most  quiet  lovely  scenes ;  living  constantly  under 
"my  great  dome  "  (as  Emerson  called  it  in  his  camp, 
pointing  to  the  vast  starry  vault);    catching   such 


224  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1858 

wonderful  glimpses  of  cloud  and  light  effects,  which 
one  never  can  know  elsewhere  —  such  as  mists  of 
early  morning  floating  off  before  tlie  sun,  moonlight 
mysteries,  the  magnetic  rays  in  the  northern  sky, 
or  some  supernatural  combinations  of  splendor  in  the 
evening  skies.  You  know  how  infinite  these  un- 
known effects  of  nature  are  —  this  is  our  wilderness 
life  with  all  the  social  and  merry  additions  which 
you  can  imagine.  I  feel  exceedingly  invigorated 
and  inspired  by  it  for  the  great  works  of  life. 

These  vast  solitudes  have  moved  me  with  inex- 
pressible reverence.  In  the  midst  of  each  great  scene 
of  starlight  and  water,  I  have  felt  as  if  prostrate  in 
some  unvisited  mighty  temple  of  Deity,  and  as  if  I 
could  only  raise  my  eyes  from  afar  to  heaven  and  ask 
for  a  nearer  union  to  the  ever-present  Spirit.  My 
soul  seemed  to  pray  with  tears  for  that  never-attained 
harmony  with  Him,  and  I  felt  as  if  all  earth  and 
heaven  might  pass  away  beneath  me  for  me,  if  I 
could  only  reach  that  atmosphere  of  purity  and  peace 
and  utter  friendship  with  God.  .  .  .  We  have  just 
entered  civilization.  Our  latest  news  is  that  the 
wire  was  laid,  and  that  a  message  had  passed.  Here 
we  find  our  mails  and  shall  read  up.  What  an  event 
it  is !  The  newest  bond  to  the  brotherhood  of  man. 
Nothing  seems  grander  since  the  -discovery  of 
America. 

To  Miss  Dora  Neill. 

Hastings,  Sept.  20,  1858. 
My  dear  Dora ;  .   .   .  I  have  been  educated  in  the 
severe  Puritanic,  Saxon  idea  of  work.     It  stands  for 


JEt.  32]  LETTER  TO  MISS  NEILL  225 

duty,  responsibility,  almost  religion,  with  us.  I 
should  wish  to  labor  if  my  body  were  dropping  away 
piecemeal,  and  if  I  lay  on  a  dying  bed  for  a  length 
of  time  and  the  dearest  friend  I  had  on  earth  could 
only  be  with  me  by  abandoning  important  duty,  I 
should  wish  him  or  her  away.  Then,  by  reasoning, 
I  have  come  to  put  woman  as  equal  or  as  claiming 
equal  privileges,  and  with  equal  responsibilities  to 
man.  So  you  see  with  the  two,  I  have  fallen  into 
this  severe  view.  It  is  not  selfishness  with  us.  It 
is  balancing  duty  of  labor  with  the  duty  of  giving 
pleasure,  and  we  only  do  as  we  have  always  been 
done  by,  and  would  be  done  by.  Your  cultivating 
your  intellect  is  not  so  much  taking  care  of  yourself 
as  doing  your  duty  to  God  and  the  world.  Of  course 
it  may  be  outbalanced  by  other  duties.  There  lies 
the  question.  ...  It  is  strange  that  I  should  feel 
myself  the  one  favored  in  our  new  bond.  I  suppose 
it  is  because  age  always  feels  itself  so  inferior  to 
youth,  and  is  glad  even  to  kneel  to  catch  such  sweet, 
fresh  flowers  from  her  hand.  I  wonder  whether  your 
bright  face  will  care  to  brighten  to  such  a  sober, 
severe,  old  worker  as  I  am.  That  is  the  way  I  regard 
you  and  me  now,  so  it  shows  I  am  growing  very  old. 
Do  you  know,  dear,  ever  since  our  pleasant  time 
with  so  many  warm  hearts,  I  find  myself  loving  every- 
body better,  and  I  half  think  nobody  (except  L.)ever 
softened  my  bear's  heart  so  much  as  your  sweet  self. 
You  represent  youth  and  hope  to  me,  and  my  sister, 
and  perhaps  I  love  you  most  because  I  think  I  see 
lighted  in  your  soul  one  fire  that  shall  never  go  out, 
—  that  kindled  on  the  altar  of  duty. 

Do  you  remember  (to  myself  I  would  say,  will  you 


226  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1859 

ever  forget?)  that  starlit  talk  on  the  rock  in  the 
lake  ?  That  seemed  to  me  (I  suppose  I  idealized  it) 
a  kind  of  spiritual  union  which  may  last  into  Eter- 
nity. At  any  rate,  it  opened  new  paths  of  light  to 
my  poor  darkened  soul  which  seemed  to  come  to  me 
there  from  the  Great  Spirit.  In  that  regard,  it  is  of 
no  consequence  whether  you  remember  or  not.  But 
what  a  sentimental  love-letter  I  have  fallen  into! 
We  have  so  much  to  tell  you  and  M.  A.  when  we 
meet,  so  I  must  leave  memories  and  fancies,  and 
come  to  facts.  We  have  just  heard  Channing,  a 
truly  great  preacher, —  an  inspired  man  with  the 
simplest  and  most  catholic  idea  of  religion, —  preach- 
ing to  but  a  small  circle  of  minds,  but  of  whom  I 
feel  I  am  one.  A  man  in  the  world  but  not  of  it; 
perhaps  too  spiritual  to  be  a  full  model  man,  but 
what  this  day  and  generation  need.  God  help  us  to 
be  even  more  above  the  world  than  he  is,  and  yet 
to  have  the  world's  full  life. 

The  letter  that  follows  was  written  to  a  relative 
suffering  from  an  illness  from  which  her  recovery 
was  doubtful :  — 

New  York,  Sunday,  May  29,  1859. 

My  dear  Kate :  It  is  a  beautiful  Sabbath  morning 
and  I  happen  to  be  in  town,  and  I  have  been  think- 
ing of  you  so  much  for  some  weeks  that  I  feel  I  must 
write  a  few  words.  Did  you  know  how  much  we 
enjoyed  your  little  visit  in  Hastings?  I  felt  I  never 
really  knew  you  so  well  before.  We  have  felt  so 
much  your  sufferings  this  spring,  and  are  glad  to 
hear  that  you  are  now  a  little  relieved.     I  often  ask 


JEt.  33]  FACTORY  GIRLS  227 

myself  how  I  should  bear  such  afflictions  as  yours, 
if  God  should  send  them  suddenly  upon  me.  It 
would  be  very  hard  for  me  to  be  suddenly  put  on  one 
side  and  become  useless,  or  to  feel  that  I  might 
possibly  be  obliged  to  leave  those  I  loved  without 
me.  Yet,  as  I  now  feel  (I  may  be  mistaken),  it 
seems  to  me,  having  once  seen  it  was  the  will  of 
God,  and  that  I  could  do  nothing,  I  could  really  just 
put  my  hand  in  Christ's,  and  say  to  Him  to  lead  me 
wherever  He  will,  even  through  the  gate  of  death  to 
His  presence.  ...  I  am  confident  there  is  a  rela- 
tion to  God  through  Christ,  which  can  make  life  per- 
fectly peaceful  and  ha^jpy  under  all  possible  circum- 
stances, and  throw  an  unimaginable  glory  over  this 
world.  It  is  not  merely  "doing  one's  duty"  as  D. 
would  say,  but  it  is  so  being  filled  with  the  presence 
and  love  of  God,  that  doing  duty  is  a  habit,  and  life 
is  all  a  friendship  or  union  with  the  Infinite  Spirit 
and  all  our  faults  are  consumed  in  this  perfect  love. 
Do  you  understand?  That  brings  the  peace  passing 
understanding ! 

Well,  dear  sister,  may  God  sustain  you,  and,  if 
best,  restore  you  to  health,  and  the  presence  of  Christ 
go  with  you  evermore. 

With  the  winter  of  1859-60,  the  society  was 
brought  to  face  a  new  problem,  owing  to  the  im- 
mense number  of  young  girls  in  need  of  wholesome 
influences,  who  were  not  of  the  most  destitute  class ; 
that  is,  who  were  not  street  children,  but  were  em- 
ployed in  factories.  The  society  felt  that  conditions 
were  fast  changing  as  New  York  became  more  and 


228  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1860 

more  a  manufacturing  city.  The  possibility  of  send- 
ing off  the  girls  to  the  West  would  grow  much  less, 
as  a  manufacturing  town  would  retain  its  working 
population.  Though  there  are  not  the  same  dangers 
for  girls  in  the  factories  as  for  the  class  of  street 
children  already  helped  by  the  society,  there  are 
other  risks,  and  Mr.  Brace  felt  something  must  be 
done  to  amuse  as  well  as  instruct  them  in  the  even- 
ings. In  the  report  for  1860,  he  says,  "With  this 
condition  of  the  poorer  female  laboring  class  rapidly 
approaching,  a  new  order  of  instrumentalities  will  be 
necessary  from  those  whose  aim  it  is  to  raise  up  the 
degraded  classes  of  the  city." 

He  says  that  girls  who  have  worked  hard  all 
day,  who  are  full  of  vitality  and  spirit,  need  amuse- 
ment and  sociality,  and  will  seek  it  where  they  can 
find  it  if  it  is  not  given  them.  Their  filthy,  disa- 
greeable homes  will  not  detain  them,  used,  as  they 
are,  to  being  their  own  mistresses  throughout  the 
day.  Moral  training  and  innocent  amusement  must 
be  given,  and  this  can  only  be  done  by  opening  the 
schools  in  the  evenings,  and  making  them  attractive 
and  social.  Money  for  this  purpose,  and  for  classes 
for  another  set  of  girls,  the  German  rag  and  bone 
pickers,  was  earnestly  solicited  of  the  public.  The 
needs  of  this  latter  portion  of  the  community  are 
strongly  set  forth  in  a  letter  to  the  president  of  the 
society.  Judge  Mason,  in  which  Mr.  Brace  reveals 


iET.  34]         SCHOOL  FOR  GERMAN  GIRLS  229 

that  he  has  grasped  the  fact,  only  at  the  present 
time  becoming  vitally  important  in  the  minds  of 
practical  philanthropists,  that  the  way  to  reach  these 
girls  is  through  social  means,  and  the  way  really  to 
help  them  is  through  industrial.  "...  Many  of 
these,"  the  letter  says,  "are  very  bright,  quick,  in- 
telligent young  girls  who,  from  the  acquaintances 
made  in  this  way,^  are  tempted  into  the  low  dance 
saloons  and  houses  of  improper  character.  It  is 
known  that  hundreds  of  the  unfortunate  girls  who 
frequent  and  support  these  places  are  poor  German 
girls  fi'om  this  very  class.  The  only  remedy  is  not 
so  much  to  reform,  as  to  prevent  the  evil.  Instruc- 
tion, training  in  work  which  shall  be  remunerative 
hereafter,  proper  amusements,  and  religious  influ- 
ences are  the  means  which  we  hope  will  check  those 
evils  among  our  poorest  class  of  Germans.  It  is 
accordingly  proposed  to  open  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Corlear's  Hook  a  social  and  industrial  school  for  the 
benefit  of  this  class  of  young  German  girls  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age.  It  is  hoped,  in  the 
hours  in  which  these  girls  are  not  at  work  in  the 
streets,  to  bring  them  together  for  instruction,  for 
moral  teachings,  and  for  practice  in  some  branch  of 
industry.  Then  in  the  evenings,  the  teachers  will 
seek  to  provide  some  suitable  amusement  or  mode  of 
spending  the  time  which  shall  keep  them  out  of 
^  In  street-trades  and  rag  and  bone  picking. 


230  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [I860 

temptation.  .  .  .  As  a  Christian  effort  in  a  direc- 
tion in  which  so  little  has  been  done  compared  with 
the  vastness  of  the  evil,  we  hope  the  enterprise  will 
meet  with  your  sympathy  and  support." 

An  association  of  Germans  was  at  once  formed, 
who  subscribed  one  thousand  dollars,  and  the  even- 
ing school  was  opened.  The  girls,  somewhat  rude 
and  bold  at  first,  came  in  numbers,  and  under  the 
influence  of  judicious  and  experienced  teachers  set 
to  work  on  the  regular  school  branches,  and  on  les- 
sons on  the  sewing  machine.  A  part  of  the  evening 
was  given  to  singing,  and  Saturday  evenings  en- 
tirely to  games  and  amusement.  Sixty  working- 
girls,  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen,  were 
soon  in  regular  attendance.  Mr.  Brace  says  that 
there  was  every  reason  "to  hope  that  a  deep  moral 
hold  will  be  gained  over  a  large  number  of  young 
girls  who  are  now  exposed  to  many  dangers."  Thus 
we  learn  of  the  first  effort  in  New  York  to  give  even- 
ing occupation  and  entertainment  to  girls. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  which  Mr.  Brace  mentions 
in  his  report  of  this  year,  1860,  that,  after  the  found- 
ing of  the  societ}^,  similar  associations  were  formed 
in  many  places  throughout  the  country.  Industrial 
schools  with  "boys'  meetings"  and  reading-rooms 
for  the  poor  were  opened  in  Albany,  Troy,  Buffalo, 
Detroit,  St.  Louis,  and  numerous  other  towns.  He 
closes  the  report  with  an  aj^peal  for  more  workers :  — 


^T.  34]  THE  ATTACK  ON  SUMTER  231 

"It  is  very  much  to  be  desired,"  he  says,  "that 
more  of  our  young  men,  especially  those  of  leisure 
and  fortune,  should  take  part  in  some  of  these  various 
enterprises  for  the  children  of  the  poor,  embraced 
under  our  organization.  In  England,  it  is  this  class 
of  men  who  do  the  most  for  the  needy  and  ignorant. 
We  should  be  glad  of  their  aid  in  the  religious  in- 
struction of  these  poor  lads,  in  contriving  for  and 
managing  our  reading-rooms  or  boys'  meetings  or 
various  undertakings  for  benefiting  the  children 
and  youth  of  the  poorest  classes.  It  is  the  best  fruit 
of  Christianity  that  it  is  recognized  as  a  privilege 
for  the  highest  to  stoop  to  the  lowest,  for  the  most 
powerful  to  help  up  the  weakest;  and  it  is  in  this 
light  especially,  that  we  would  lay  this  possibility 
of  usefulness  before  the  sons  of  our  most  eminent 
and  wealthy  citizens." 

The  friendly  letters  of  these  stirring  war  times 
are  so  few  that  we  turn  to  his  letters  to  the  news- 
papers to  learn  how  thoroughly  aroused  he  was.  We 
insert  here  a  letter  to  the  "  New  York  Times  "  writ- 
ten in  the  spring  of  1861 :  — 


To  the  ''New  York  Times:' 

Tuesday,  April  16,  1861. 

.  .  .  Nothing,  for  years,  has  brought  the  hearts 
of  all  the  people  so  close  together,  or  so  inspired 
them  all  with  common  hope  and  common  fears  and  a 
common  aim,  as  the  bombardment  and  surrender  of 


232  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1861 

an  American  fortress.  We  look  upon  this  sublime 
outburst  of  public  sentiment  as  the  most  perfect 
vindication  of  popular  institutions,  the  most  con- 
clusive reply  to  the  impugners  of  American  loyalty 
the  country  has  ever  seen.'  It  has  been  quite  com- 
mon to  say  that  such  a  Republic  as  ours  could  never 
be  permanent,  because  it  lacked  the  conditions  of  a 
profound  and  abiding  loyalty.  The  government 
could  never  inspire  a  patriotic  instinct  fervid  enough 
to  melt  the  bonds  of  party,  or  powerful  enough  to 
override  the  selfishness  which  free  institutions  so 
rapidly  develop.  The  hearts  of  our  people  had  begun 
to  sink  within  them  at  the  apparent  insensibility  of 
the  public  to  the  dangers  which  menaced  the  govern- 
ment.  .  .   . 

But  all  this  changed.  The  cannon  which  bom- 
barded Sumter  awoke  strange  echoes,  and  touched 
forgotten  chords  in  the  American  heart.  American 
loyalty  leaped  into  instant  life,  and  stood  radiant 
and  ready  for  the  fierce  encounter.  From  one  end  of 
the  land  to  the  other, —  in  the  crowded  streets  of 
cities,  and  in  the  solitude  of  the  country, —  wher- 
ever the  splendor  of  the  stars  and  stripes,  the  glitter- 
ing emblems  of  our  country's  glory,  meets  the  eye, 
come  forth  shouts  of  devotion  and  pledges  of  aid 
which  give  due  guarantees  for  the  perpetuity  of 
American  freedom.  War  can  inflict  no  scars  on  such 
a  people.  ...  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  war 
—  even  civil  war  —  is  the  greatest  evil  that  can 
afflict  a  nation.  .  .  .  War  is  a  far  less  evil  than 
degradation,  than  the  national  and  social  paralysis 
which  can  neither  feel  a  wound  nor  redress  a  wrong. 
.  .  .     The  great  body  of  our  people  have  but  one 


iET.  34]  ENGLAND'S  ATTITUDE  23B 

heart  and  one  purpose  in  this  great  crisis  of  our 
history.  Whatever  may  be  the  character  of  the  con- 
test, we  have  no  fears  or  misgivings  as  to  the  final 
issue. 

His  disappointment  in  England's  lack  of  sympathy 
was  very  bitter.  Although  he  had  friends  like  Sir 
Charles  and  Lady  Lyell  and  many  others,  who  were 
heart  and  soul  with  the  Union  cause,  the  public  tone 
hurt  him,  and  he  writes  with  more  bitterness  than 
we  are  used  to  look  for  from  his  pen.  He  says  she 
disappointed  him  in  her  lack  of  sympathy  for  Hun- 
gary twelve  years  before.  Now  it  is  the  same  thing. 
Either  the  papers  express  in  the  name  of  the  public 
pious  horror  or  pity  at  this  "  wicked  and  fratricidal 
war,"  or  there  is  a  tone  of  cool  neutrality.  He 
writes  for  the  "New  York  Times,"  under  the  title 
"  The  Sympathies  of  England  " :  — 

"May  28,  1861.  .  .  .  Of  course,  other  and  wiser 
words  will  yet  come  over  the  Atlantic.  But  to 
generous  natures,  the  first  words  are  the  real  words. 
Nothing  that  England  can  offer  now  of  sympathy,  or 
hereafter  of  pious  congratulation  at  the  triumph  of 
liberty  and  government,  can  remove  the  conviction 
implanted  in  the  minds  of  our  people  of  the  hypoc- 
risy of  her  governing  classes.  She  has  lost  in  Ameri- 
can affairs  the  golden  opportunity  of  centuries,  and 
it  will  never  come  again.  If  ever  a  war  was  holy, 
if  ever  it  was  made  for  the  noblest  objects,  this  has 


234  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1861 

been.  .  .  .  For  merchants  who  have  offered  the 
fruits  of  the  toil  of  years,  for  mothers  who  bring 
with  their  own  hands  their  sons  to  the  recruiting 
offices,  for  professional  men  who  have  abandoned  all 
civil  honors  to  take  place  as  privates,  .  .  .  for  a 
whole  nation  offering  money,  time,  and  life  itself 
without  stint  or  measure  in  the  cause  of  human  lib- 
erty and  law, —  to  be  told  that  they  are  only  fighting 
for  a  tariff  or  their  pockets,  or  because  they  want 
excitement,  is  not  only  a  misrepresentation  base 
enough  to  lead  all  honorable  souls  to  doubt  it,  but 
dull  enough  to  carry  its  own  reply  with  it." 

Mr.  Brace  made  a  trip  to  Washington  during  the 
spring  and  early  summer  of  this  year,  and  corre- 
sponded with  the  "  Independent "  during  his  journey. 
We  insert  at  some  length  extracts  from  his  letters, 
believing  that  both  his  practical  suggestions  and  his 
comments  on  what  he  saw  may  be  of  interest. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  ^''Independent  " 

May  9,  1861. 
Your  old  correspondent  has  just  passed  through 
the  camps  in  Maryland,  and  is  now  in  Washington. 
It  is  quite  a  singular  effect  to  note  the  contrast  be- 
tween this  quiet  city  and  the  excited  New  York. 
As  soon  as  I  had  passed  the  first  military  lines,  I 
felt  the  difference  in  the  atmosphere.  The  ideal 
part  of  the  struggle  was  behind,  the  real  before. 
The  soldiers  were  about  a  practical  business ;  rations 
and  drills  and  camping-places  had  taken  the  place 


iEx.  34]  TONE  OF  THE  ARMY  2S5 

of  speeches  and  toasts  and  hurrahs.  Washington 
seems  as  cahn  as  a  New  England  village,  only  more 
picturesque  from  the  number  of  uniforms.  The  suf- 
ferings of  a  civilian  on  the  route  by  Annapolis  to 
Washington  would  make  a  theme  for  "  Punch  "  or 
Marryat.  Nobody  cares  for  him,  no  one  minds  him. 
The  univeral  military  response  to  every  question  is 
"I  don't  know."  Sometimes  he  is  not  allowed  to 
go  forward  or  to  retreat.  All  men  snub  him.  If, 
in  his  utter  confusion  and  desolation,  he  finall}',  in 
despair,  applies  to  the  general, —  as  did  one  unfor- 
tunate traveller  to  General  Butler, —  and  asks  where 
he  is  to  sleep,  he  is  extinguished  by  the  soldier-like 
answer,  "  I  really  don't  know,  sir.  Do  you  think  I 
am  the  chambermaid  of  this  post?"  All  is  military 
routine,  and  your  traveller  had  better  keep  out  of 
the  way  of  it.  Then  the  confusion,  the  waste,  the 
hurried  work,  the  striding  right  over  all  the  usual 
habits  of  peace.  Nothing  that  I  have  ever  read 
described  it  so  nearly  as  some  of  Marryat's  accounts 
of  putting  one  of  Her  Majesty's  frigates  in  sudden 
readiness  for  sea. 

The  most  efficient  officer,  I  should  think,  on  the 
ground  is  General  Butler  of  Massachusetts.  Still, 
very  few  of  the  officials  in  command  have  first-rate 
business  habits.  The  whole  thing-  is  new  to  our 
people,  and  the  regiments  have  come  on  before  the 
government  was  ready  for  them.   .   .   . 

The  tone  of  our  men  is  noble.  There  is  no  bitter- 
ness or  spirit  of  revenge  among  them,  but  a  manly 
determination  to  do  their  duty  to  their  country. 
They  are  bearing  great  privations  and  hardships 
without  a  murmur  at  the  cause  which  brought  them 


236  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1861 

out,  though  with  curses  both  loud  and  deep  at  the 
commissariat  officers.  They  need  many  things,  and 
it  becomes  their  friends  all  over  the  country  to  pro- 
vide for  these.  Let  us  remember  that  our  kinsmen 
and  friends  who  are  fighting  our  battles  will  die 
from  rheumatism,  fever,  dysentery,  and  sickness  of 
every  kind,  vastly  more  than  they  will  from  bullets 
and  bayonets.  To  guard  against  these,  let  every 
village  and  town  supply  its  volunteers  each  with  a 
loose  flannel  shirt  and  India-rubber  blanket  (or  slip) 
and  warm  woollen  socks.  These  are  the  best  things 
for  dampness,  and  for  extremes  of  heat  and  cold. 
Then,  to  vary  their  everlasting  salt  diet,  send  them 
boxes  or  barrels  of  dried  fruit,  or  oranges  or  apples, 
or  cans  of  preserved  meat  and  vegetables,  or  a  keg  of 
molasses  (molasses  helps  out  bad  fare  wonderfully), 
or  a  can  of  tea  (tea  is  not  an  army  ration).  It  will 
be  easy  to  find  out  who  is  the  officer  to  whom  these 
things  are  to  be  sent  for  the  particular  regiment. 
Then  for  higher  wants.  The  army  should  be  thor- 
oughly supplied  with  reading  matter.  There  is  the 
greatest  want  in  this  respect.  The  young  men  are 
most  eager  to  read,  but  have  nothing.  Idleness  will 
ruin  many  a  noble  fellow  in  these  regiments.  Why 
could  not,  for  instance,  some  generous  person  enable 
the  "Independent"  to  issue  an  "Army  Edition," 
and  scatter  twenty  thousand  copies  every  week  among 
our  forces;  or  why  could  not  each  community  for- 
ward plenty  of  papers  and  pamphlets  and  tracts  to 
their  own  men? 

But  now  to  the  highest  want.  I  found  the  relig- 
ious men  of  the  regiments  I  visited  under  a  cloud. 
They  had  not  become  used  to  the  idea  of  a   Christian 


^T.  34]      RELIGIOUS  MEN  IN  THE   ARMY  237 

soldier.  Without  Sundays,  without  churches  or 
books  or  sermons,  or  a  society  of  the  good,  they  were 
overborne  by  the  habits  and  tone  of  those  around 
them.  This  country  has  not  come  to  consider  the 
army  (as  Enghind  does)  as  a  necessary  part  of  the 
State,  and  a  leligious  officer  or  soldier  as  just  as 
natural  as  a  religious  civilian.  Our  men  of  piety 
feel  as  if  they  were  somewhat  out  of  their  element 
when  they  are  on  service.  Then  in  every  regiment, 
sometimes  in  every  company,  are  men  who  are  ob- 
scene ruffians, —  profane,  foul-mouthed  fellows  who 
ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  police.  These  lead 
the  talk,  and  have  vastly  more  influence  than  they 
ought  to  have,  or  would  have  if  the  religious  and 
moral  were  united.  I  found  Christian  men  in  some 
of  the  corps  much  depressed  by  these  things.  Drink- 
ing and  gambling,  too,  had  begun,  and  there  seemed 
danger  of  a  tide  of  vice  and  irreligion  running 
through  our  army.  Now,  our  Northern  men  never 
can  fight  this  war  well,  unless  from  the  beginning 
it  is  a  religious  war.  It  was  begun  from  prin- 
ciple. It  is  a  defence  of  liberty  and  law  and  right- 
eousness. It  should  continue  a  war  of  principle. 
The  Bible  and  Psalm-book  should  go  along  with  the 
bayonet  and  sword.  Prayers  should  precede  each 
battle.  Our  men  must  feel,  as  did  the  Revolution- 
ary forefathers  or  the  English  Puritans,  and  know 
that  they  are  serving  God  when  they  take  hardship 
and  wounds  and  death  in  this  cause.  There  ought 
to  be  no  unmanly  dodging  of  religious  responsibili- 
ties. The  men  of  piety  in  each  regiment  must  band 
together  and  make  their  influence  felt.  They  must 
not  be    ashamed  '  of    Christ,    even   when    carrying 


238  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1861 

pistol  and  bayonet,  and  before  the  profane  and  the 
nasty.  Let  us  have  a  manly,  soldierly  piety  in  our 
whole  army. 


To  the  Editors  of  the  '"''Independent.''^ 

Washington,  May  16,  1861. 

Mr.  Toombs  prophesied  that  he  would  one  day 
call  the  roll  of  his  slaves  on  Bunker  Hill.  We  have 
lived  to  see  the  Senate  Chamber  where  he  spoke  occu- 
pied by  Massachusetts  soldiers,  in  arms  against  the 
slave  masters  and  for  defence  of  Washington. 

During-  the  last  week  I  visited  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber,  where  the  brave  men  are  who  forced  their  way 
through  the  mob  of  Baltimore.  It  was  a  notable 
sight,  a  scene  that  will  be  historic  hereafter,  one  of 
those  events  which,  five  hundred  years  hence,  will 
be  spoken  of  by  our  vast  posterity  as  the  Romans 
spoke  of  the  distant  days  when  the  Gauls  were  be- 
leaguering the  Capitol.  There  they  lay,  stretched 
about  on  the  seats  and  desks  which  many  meaner 
men  had  filled,  and  making  the  walls  that  have  lis- 
tened to  so  much  mean  apology  and  base  treason 
echo  to  freer  words.  You  have  heard  how  these  men 
of  the  Bay  State  sprang  to  their  arms.  One  company 
received  its  notice  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  by  nine  o'clock  it  was  all  ready  and  on  its 
march.  There  was  something  so  fitting  that  those 
who  had  been  first  to  speak  in  the  great  struggle 
should  likewise  be  the  first  to  act 

The  main  feeling  with  the  men,  I  find,  is  that  it 
is  a  struggle  for  the  very  existence  of  the  govern- 


^T.  34]      EMAXCIPATION   FORESHADOWED  239 

ment;  for  law  itself  against  anarchy.  Mr.  Evarts, 
in  his  interview  with  the  President,  expressed  the 
underl^'ing  principle  in  his  trenchant  words :  "  We 
of  the  North,"  said  he,  "are  to  show  that  revolutions 
cannot  be  had  in  this  country  cheap.  If  necessary, 
it  shall  cost  the  prosperity  of  a  whole  generation  to 
overthrow  our  government."  Still,  it  makes  but 
little  difference  what  the  individuals  of  an  army 
intend.  They  are  now  the  incarnations  of  an  idea. 
This  idea  necessarily  involves  "hatred  to  slavery." 
Let  the  first  blood  be  shed,  and  every  ignorant  laborer 
who  has  joined  the  ranks,  and  all  his  friends  and 
kinsmen,  are  henceforth  foes  of  slavery.  Besides, 
the  necessities  of  war  are  despotic.  We  must  rouse 
up  the  slaves  eventually.  We  cannot  help  it.  If 
they  help  us,  we  cannot  shoot  them  down.  One 
reprisal  begets  another.  The  rebel  privateers  cap- 
ture our  gold-bearing  steamers  or  our  coast  craft. 
We  loosen  the  bonds  of  the  slaves.  And  the  ultima- 
tum must  be,  as  Wendell  Phillips  says,  "Disunion 
or  Emancipation."  .   .   . 

Freedom  to  the  slave !  The  words  sound  as  might 
the  songs  of  angels  amid  the  curses  and  groans  of 
battle.  We  cannot  believe  them.  What!  This 
curse  and  burning  shame  at  length,  after  so  many 
years  of  hopeless  prayers  and  tears,  to  be  taken  away! 
The  chain  of  American  bondage  to  be  broken,  the 
wrongs  and  sins  of  that  accursed  system  of  despotism 
at  length  to  be  swept  away,  and  this  glorious  old 
flag  to  wave  henceforth  over  nothing  but  freemen ; 
to  be  the  symbol,  indeed,  of  universal  liberty !  .   .   . 

Another  result  of  our  final  victory  must  be  the  full 
justification  of  the  American   idea.     We   have   all 


240  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1861 

doubted  it.  We  have  all  been  at  times  skeptics. 
Seeing  the  corruption  of  politicians,  and  the  base 
uses  to  which  the  people  have  been  put,  we  have 
been  ready  to  say,  "Men  are  not  yet  ready  for 
universal  suffrage!  We  should  have  restrictions 
and  privileges!  Keep  out  the  foreigners  from  our 
rights !  "  Now,  in  the  hour  of  our  peril,  when  the 
Southern  demagogue  counted  on  treason  from  the 
poor  foreigner,  even  as  he  had  found  it  among  his 
own  wealthy  countrymen,  at  the  first  shot  at  our  flag 
we  find  the  foreign-born  rising,  if  possible,  with 
more  enthusiasm  and  patriotic  self-devotion  to  de- 
fend the  Republic  than  our  own  citizens.  The 
brave  Irish,  the  gallant  French,  the  well-drilled 
Germans,  Poles,  Hungarians,  and  English  are  hur- 
rying on  to  stand  by  or  die  for  the  capital  of  their 
country.  Henceforth,  the  blood  of  the  foreign  dead 
on  this  soil  consecrates  universal  suffrage,  while 
the  American  nation  endures. 

Still  further,  one  can  see  in  the  future,  looming 
up  before  us,  the  image  of  a  stronger  government. 
Such  a  rebellion  as  this  must  not  occur  twice.  Even 
if  the  present  Administration,  with  its  powers,  is 
able  to  overthrow  this  mighty  faction  of  enemies, 
we  shall  inevitably  henceforth  demand  a  government 
that  can  prevent  such  outbreaks.  .  .  .  We  can 
never  allow  again  our  ship  of  State  to  come  so  near 
foundering.  The  pleasing  excitement  of  a  blockade 
of  our  capital  must  never  be  repeated. 

A  letter  to  his  wife  shows  him  in  the  thick  of  the 
operations  that  preceded  the  defeat  at  Bull  Run. 


^T.  35]  IN   CAMP   IN  VIRGINIA  241 

To  his  Wife. 

Camp  on  the  ground  in  front  of  a  Secesh  house 
near  Fairfax  Court-House,  Wednesday,  4 
o'clock.     Summer,  18G1. 

Dearest  Wife :  I  have  had  a  most  exciting  day. 
You'll  find  a  full  account  of  it  in  Friday's  "  Times  " 
signed  Civilian.  Raymond  and  another  and  I  took 
a  carriage,  and,  making  a  short  cut,  came  into  the 
van  of  the  advance  army,  and  have  marched  along 
expecting  an  attack  continually.  We  entered  Fair- 
fax Court-House  with  the  first.  It  was  a  most  ex- 
citing scene.  People  all  trembling,  most  houses 
deserted,  artillery,  cavalry,  and  some  troops  thun- 
derino-  througfh.  Some  of  the  houses  were  entered, 
and  a  few  things  plundered;  but  the  enemy  had 
gone.  But  now  we  are  waiting  for  the  cool,  and 
shall  march  forward  towards  Manassas  Junction.  A 
guard  is  over  this  deserted  house.  We  are  resting 
on  the  grass.  Several  times  we  were  expecting  a 
discharge  from  masked  batteries,  but  the  enemy  had 
all  left,  and  very  hurriedly;  so  much  so  that  they 
left  tents  and  everything.  Trees  were  felled  along, 
and  our  men  removed  them.  Generally,  the  houses 
are  well  treated.  Our  men  are  full  of  spirit.  The 
general  and  colonels  are  very  polite  to  us  —  very 
gentlemanly  indeed.  (They  say  the  men  have  just 
burnt  a  house  in  the  village.) 

The  enemy's  camp  is  in  sight,  which  they  aban- 
doned, and  the  log-house  hospital  is  burning.  The 
rebels  seem  to  have  had  plenty  to  eat.  I  suppose 
they  will  fight  at  the  Junction. 


242  CHARLES   LORIXG  BRACE  [1861 

The  sight  was  so  beautiful  and  picturesque  of  the 
lines  of  glittering  bayonets  in  the  fresh  morning, 
and  the  horsemen  and  the  cannon  marching  through 
the  forest  and  over  the  road  between  grain  fields.  I 
am  sleepy,  only  slept  four  hours ;  so  God  bless  you, 
dear! 

Centeeville,  Friday. 

Yesterday  I  was  in  a  battle.  Don't  be  frightened; 
we  escaped  all  right,  and  I  suppose  the  danger  was 
trifling.  We  stood  on  the  hill  above  Bull's  Run, 
and  saw  the  whole  affair,  and  suddenly  had  the  can- 
non-balls flying  among  us.  I  tell  you,  the  first  expe- 
rience of  a  round  shot,  whirring  over  one's  head,  is 
a  sensation.  Every  one  ducks  and  whirr!  they  go 
right  over  you.  A  number  were  killed  on  our  side. 
I  have  written  a  long  account  for  the  "  Times."  Our 
men  did  not  act  very  well,  and  the  enemy  were  well 
posted.  It  was  a  trap  for  us.  We  go  to  the  same 
point  to-day,  and  will  attack  them  with  a  larger 
force.  It  was  the  most  exciting  day  of  my  life,  yes- 
terday, and  I  could  hardly  sleep,  tired  as  I  was. 
The  poor  people  here  suffer  terribly.  I  am  staying 
at  the  doctor's.  The  lady  has  just  lost  her  beehives 
and  her  chickens,  and  she  has  to  go  out  every 
moment  and  stop  the  men  from  breaking  down  her 
corn,  the  support  of  her  family.  She  has  two  negro 
slaves  who  seem  very  comfortable,  and  her  little  girl 
waits.  The  men  are  half-starved,  and  sweep  the 
country,  burning  some  of  the  houses.  They  are  in 
grand  spirits.  The  Seceshes  fought  with  frightful 
yells,  and  were  well  covered.  It  is  curious,  though 
they  have  retreated  steadily  now  for  nine  miles  very 


^T.  35]  THE   SHADOW   OF   SLAVERY  243 

fast,  the  letters  of  the  South  Carolinians,  which  we 
pick  up,  are  full  of  contempt  for  the  courage  of  the 
d — d  Yankees,  and  talk  of  two  to  one  being  fair 
odds,  etc.  (They  are  knocking  the  windows  out  of 
the  church,  to  give  air  to  the  wounded.)  We  are 
off  again. 

P.S. — Washington.     Friday  evening. 

Back  here  again,  but  most  unluckily  Sanitary 
Commission  is  closed,  and  I  can  get  no  letters.  Am 
exceedingly  disappointed.  Trust  all  is  right  and 
you  are  well. 

The  two  remaining  extracts  from  letters  to  the 
"  Independent "  read  as  follows :  — 

Sept.  12,  1861. 

.  .  .  The  shadow  of  American  slavery  has  fallen 
upon  our  whole  lives.  We  could  not  pray  without 
thinking  of  them  in  bonds  even  as  bound  with  them. 
The  pictures  of  American  glory  seemed  mockery  when 
we  saw  this  dark  background  of  kneeling,  manacled 
forms.  The  petition  that  "Thy  kingdom  should 
come  "  seemed  useless  while  we  could  do  nothing 
against  this  organized  system  of  heathenism.  So 
have  the  natural  influences  of  American  slavery  been 
working  upon  the  minds  of  hundreds  of  thousands, 
until  they  feel  and  believe  that  no  such  horde  of 
tyrants  anywhere  exists  as  a  certain  portion  of  the 
Southern  slaveholders.   .   .   . 

At  length,  in  the  providence  of  God,  a  fair  field 
has  come  for  striking  a  death-blow  at  this  gigantic 
tyranny.     Will  it  be  wondered  at  that  all  such  strive 


244  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1861 

and  labor  and  pray,  not  merely  for  the  preservation 
of  this  government,  but  most  of  all  for  the  overthrow 
of  slavery  and  the  restoration  of  liberty?  The  smoth- 
ered indignation  of  years,  now  that  at  length  there 
is  a  practical  vent,  bursts  forth.  If  they  speak  of 
the  subjugation  or  extermination  of  the  slaveholders, 
as  a  class,  it  is  not  in  the  spirit  of  revenge  or  per- 
sonal bitterness,  but  because  such  seems  the  Divine 
Providence  or  retribution,  and  because  they  feel  the 
wrongs  done  to  the  helpless  and  the  unbefriended. 

The  opposition  to  a  public  "  Declaration  of  Eman- 
cipation "  under  the  war-power  has  its  grounds  in  a 
variety  of  causes.  Some  of  them  are  every  way 
dishonorable  to  the  American  mind,  and  show  the 
deep  corrupting  influence  which  a  powerful  system 
of  injustice  may  work  at  length  on  the  national  con- 
science. 

Historians  will  record  with  astonishment,  centu- 
ries hence,  that  a  nation  whose  life  Imd  been  almost 
destroyed  by  a  dreadful  institution  of  wrong,  who 
were  thoroughly  convinced  of  its  wickedness  and 
injury,  should  finally,  when  a  plain  and  just  way  of 
removing  it  was  offered  them,  still  hesitate,  and 
even  perhaps  risk  destruction,  rather  than  do  justice. 
They  will  wonder  at  it  as  one  of  the  strange  instances 
of  human  obliquity  and  folly.  Perhaps  with  even 
more  wonder  they  will  record  that  during  this  time 
of  danger,  on  an  appointed  day  of  penitence  for 
national  sins,  men  should  rise  who  especially  pro- 
fessed to  represent  mercy  and  justice  to  the  world, 
and,  in  the  very  house  of  God,  should  not  have  a 


JEt.  35]      LETTERS  OF  HORACE  GREELEY  245 

word  to  say  of  the  greatest  sin  which  a  nation  ever 
committed, —  their  own  national  sin,  and  the  cause 
of  all  their  troubles, —  and  should  be  able  to  charac- 
terize a  reasonable  plan  of  administering  justice  for 
the  oppressed  only  as  "fanatical  and  revolutionary." 
Perhaps  the  mournful  verdict  will  be  that  a  nation 
whose  teachers  and  priests  were  such,  needed  chas- 
tisement, if  not  extermination. 

In  October  he  seems  to  have  written  two  letters  to 
Greeley,  begging  him  to  plead  more  for  the  anti- 
slavery  cause  in  the  "Tribune."  We  have  not  Mr. 
Brace's  letters,  but  give  Mr.  Greeley's  very  inter- 
esting replies :  — 

Office  of  the  "  Tribune,"  Oct.  3,  1861. 

"  It  is  stated  as  a  fact  that  an  Indiana  clergyman, 
during  his  prayer  on  the  late  Fast  Day,  used  the 
following  language:  'Oh,  Lord,  had  the  East  done 
as  well  as  the  Hoosier  State  in  furnishing  men  to 
put  down  this  rebellion,  we  would  not  be  under  the 
necessity  of  calling  on  Thee.'  "^  My  friend,  I  differ 
slightly  from  our  Indiana  friend,  and  of  course  from 
yourself.  I  think  God  is  fighting  the  battle  of 
emancipation,  and  that  the  folly,  imbecility,  and 
faithlessness  of  our  rulers  is  among  the  means  by 
which  He  is  working  out  His  glorious  purpose.  You 
remember  that  noble  line  of  Milton,  "  They  also  serve 
who  only  stand  and  wait." 

There  is  no  use  of  talk.  One  fact,  like  the  de- 
struction of  the  railroad  bridge  and  train  in  North 

1  Cutting  from  newspaper  inclosed  in  Mr,  Greeley's  letter. 


246  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1861 

Missouri,  is  worth  all  you  and  I  would  say  for 
months.  Our  volunteers  are  henceforth  to  be  our 
practical  Abolitionists.  The  war,  and  not  what  you 
and  I  may  say  about  it,  is  to  end  slavery.  Do  trust 
the  Divine  Disposer  and  not  His  feeble  instruments, 
and  rest  assured  that  Bull  Run  and  its  consequences, 
with  the  general  course  and  results  of  the  war,  are 
to  do  the  needed  work,  with  little  help  from  you  or 
me.  If  every  Abolitionist  of  three  months'  standing 
were  to  die  to-morrow,  the  war  could  not  continue 
two  years  without  ending  in  (or  involving)  emanci- 
pation. It  may  be  well  for  the  "Tribune,"  as  you 
say,  to  say  more  on  this  point.  But  I  doubt  that  it 
is  well  for  the  cause,  and  I  feel  sure  that  it  is  unnec- 
essary. Yours, 

Horace  Greeley. 

Oct.  7,  1861. 

Friend  B —  .•  The  real  question  is  not,  "  Shall  eman- 
cipation be  recommended  as  the  true  antidote  to 
rebellion?"  But  who  shall  do  it?  When  no  one 
else  but  Abolitionists  would  do  it,  they  had  to ;  but 
now  that  General  Cass,  O.  A.  Brownson,  General  Ben 
Butler,  etc.,  are  in  the  field,  I  think  it  not  well  that 
those  who  have  been  rendered  odious  by  urging  aboli- 
tion when  it  was  a  stench  in  the  public  nostrils  should 
be  conspicuous  in  "the  hottest  forefront  of  the  bat- 
tle," and  besides,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  the  Union  and  the  downfall  of  the  slave 
power  are  nearly  synonymous,  and  that  he  who  is 
sternly  for  the  Union  will  soon  be  against  slavery 
if  well  let  alone.     Still  we  shall  have  articles  in  the 


JEt.  35]       LETTER  FROM   W.   II.   SEWARD  247 

"  Tribune  "  urging  abolition  —  probably  as  many  as 
is  good  for  the  cause.  But  I  still  think  the  Lord 
means  to  rid  us  of  slaverj^  in  some  manner  which 
will  render  His  hand  in  the  work  more  visible  than 
though  it  were  brought  about  by  the  newspapers. 
Yours, 

Horace  Greeley. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Seward  was  writ- 
ten in  acknowledgment  of  an  expression  of  Mr. 
Brace's  sympathy  in  the  Trent  affair:  — 


From  William  H.  Seward. 

Washington,  Dec.  18,  1861. 
My  dear  Mr.  Brace :  I  thank  you  for  your  very 
kind  note,  and  for  your  still  more  indulgent  note 
u^Don  the  "  Foreign  Corresj)ondence."  It  will  always 
be  a  riddle  for  me,  insoluble  to  the  end,  why  it  is 
that  I  am  always  falling  under  the  suspicion  of  friends, 
and,  invariably,  the  fault  that  suspicion  indicates  is 
the  very  opposite  of  my  active  life.  But  one  must 
bear  his  burden. 

Faithfully  j'-ours, 

William  H.  Seward. 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  Mr.  Brace  wrote  to  Mr. 
F.  L.  Olmsted,  then  at  the  head  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  to  know  if  there  were  any  work  he 
could  do,  and  received  the  following  characteristic 
reply :  — 


248  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1862 


From  F.  L.  Olmsted. 

On  board  the  Wilson  Small,  Hampton  Roads, 
first  Sunday  after  the  skedaddle  of  the 
Pamumkey.     1862. 

Dear  Charley  :  I  employ  three  classes,  surgeons, 
nurses,  and  women  —  the  first  and  last  of  two 
grades,  but  in  neither  of  either  would  you  yoke. 
For  nurses,  I  find  that  any  not  very  sick  common 
soldiers,  Yankee,  Irish,  or  German,  are  better  than 
any  volunteers ;  also  that  mercenaries  are  better  than 
gratuitous  volunteers.  I  have  therefore  abandoned 
volunteers.  Don't  want  them.  Consequently,  in 
the  way  of  business,  I  don't  want  you ;  for  any  man 
without  a  clearly  defined  function  about  the  army  is 
a  nuisance,  and  is  treated  as  such,  unless  he  comes 
with  a  peremptory  edict  from  the  Secretary  of  War 
that  he  shan't  be,  when  aside  swearing  becomes  the 
substitute  for  kicks  and  cold  shoulders.  I  have  seen 
enough  of  it,  and  it  is  not  an  entertainment  to  which 
I  would  invite  a  friend. 

Mr.  Brace  was,  however,  able  to  go  on  the  Christian 
Commission,  and  did  what  he  could  for  both  asso- 
ciations. 

No  letters  have  been  found  telling  how  long  he 
remained  in  the  South,  but  a  few  words  in  the  fol- 
lowing show  that  he  found  sufficient  to  do. 


^T.  36]  DEATH  OF  JUDGE  MASON  249 

To  his  Wife. 

Portsmouth,  July  16  [1862]. 
Dearest  Wife ;  .  .  .  I  have  been  laid  up  for  a  day 
by  one  of  my  feverish  colds.  I  wrote  to  the  "  Times, " 
however,  and  to-day  I  have  been  distributing  sherry 
and  spiritual  consolation.  To-morrow,  I  hold  my 
farewell  services  in  three  hospitals.  A  number  were 
transported  North  to-day,  and  so  glad  they  were !  It 
has  been  a  delightful  work,  but  now  I  feel  sick  and 
homesick.  .  .  .  One  of  our  delegates  told  me  that 
he  saw  a  dying  rebel  officer  in  a  ravine,  after  a 
severe  action.  He  leaned  over  to  him,  and  the 
dying  man  whispered,  "  That  was  the  gallantest  charge 
I  was  ever  in.  The  flag  was  shot  down  twenty-five 
times,  and  every  time  taken  up  again,  and  kept  on !  " 
Somebody  asked,  "What  flag?"  "Yours,"  ne  said. 
A  fine  tribute  to  our  men,  wasn't  it? 

The  Children's  Aid  Society  had  sustained  a  severe 
loss  during  the  preceding  winter,  in  the  death  of  its 
faithful  president.  Judge  Mason.  In  1861,  Mr. 
William  A.  Booth  became  his  successor,  and  im- 
mediately upon  assuming  his  duties  undertook,  with 
Mr.  Brace,  an  extension  of  the  society  in  a  new 
direction.  Efforts  had  already  been  made  to  afford 
instruction  and  amusement  in  the  evenings  to  girls 
of  from  fourteen  to  seventeen  5'ears  of  age,  too  old 
to  be  forced  into  school,  who  were  either  idle  or 
engaged  in  street  trades,  but  the  complete  charge  of 


250  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1862 

them  was  now  for  the  first  time  undertaken  by  tlie 
society.  Of  this  enterprise,  Mr.  Brace  said  later, 
"It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  this  instrument 
of  charity  and  reform  has  cost  us  more  trouble 
than  all  our  enterprises  together."  The  society 
might  well  have  been  appalled  at  the  prospect  be- 
fore it  in  attempting  to  reach  this  class.  It  rep- 
resented qualities  well-nigh  impossible  to  obtain 
an  influence  over,  —  an  incredible  cunning  in  de- 
ceiving those  even  who  came  into  closest  relations 
with  them ;  a  lack  of  control  which  made  them,  after 
being  in  actual  want  for  days,  spend  a  suddenly 
earned  shilling  in  some  foolish  gewgaw,  and,  worst 
of  all,  a  superficiality  of  which  Mr.  Brace  speaks  in 
the  following  forcible  language:  — 

"  Their  worst  quality  is  their  superficiality.  There 
is  no  depth  either  to  their  virtues  or  vices.  They 
sin,  and  immediately  repent  with  alacrity;  they  live 
virtuously  for  years,  and  a  straw  seems  suddenly  to 
turn  them.  They  weep  at  the  presentation  of  the 
divine  character  in  Christ,  and  pray  with  fervency; 
and,  the  very  next  day,  may  ruin  their  virtue  or  steal 
their  neighbor's  garment,  or  take  to  drinking,  or  set 
a  whole  block  in  ferment  with  some  biting  scandal. 
They  seem  to  be  children,  but  with  woman's  pas- 
sion, and  woman's  jealousy  and  scathing  tongue. 
They  trust  a  superior  as  a  child ;  they  neglect  them- 
selves, and  injure  body  and  mind  as  a  child  might; 
they  have  a  child's  generosity,  and  occasional  fresh- 


iEx.  36]  GIRLS'  LODGING-HOUSE  251 

ness  of  impulse,  and  desire  of  purity;  but  their  pas- 
sions sweep  over  them  with  the  force  of  maturity, 
and  their  temper  and  power  of  setting  persons  by  the 
ears,  and  backbiting  and  occasional  intensity  of  hate, 
belong  to  a  later  period  of  life."^ 

And  yet  they  were  not  all  bad.  He  says  many  of 
them  had  rushed  away  from  wretched  homes  of 
drunkenness,  unlucky,  unfortunate,  getting  a  situa- 
tion only  to  lose  it,  but  not  with  any  evil  purpose 
in  their  poor,  darkened  souls.  Sometimes,  where 
an  unusual  experience  aroused  them,  they  displayed 
a  power  of  sacrifice  which  utterly  forgot  self,  and 
the  loving  woman's  heart  shone  out  brightly,  even 
through  the  shadow  of  death.  But  the  difficulty  in 
managing  them  practically,  owing  to  this  combina- 
tion of  childishness  and  undisciplined  maturity, 
seemed  thoroughly  hopeless. 

A  plan  for  an  institution  to  benefit  this  class  was 
drawn  up  b}'-  Mr.  Brace  in  the  form  of  a  circular 
called  "A  Plan  for  an  Institution  for  Poor  Young 
Girls."  With  the  great  need  of  a  trained  domestic 
service,  that  existed  then  as  now,  it  seemed  to  Mr. 
Brace  and  Mr.  Booth  that  means  could  be  found 
which  should  enable  girls  thoroughly  to  learn  the 
details  of  housework.  It  was  suggested  that  a  set 
of  rooms  be  taken  for  eating-house,  kitchen,  and 
laundry,  where  girls  might  be  taught  these  indus- 
1 "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  302, 


252  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1862 

trial  branches,  and  washing  be  taken  in  for  others. 
Wages  were  to  be  paid  as  an  inducement  to  girls  to 
enter,  and  after  a  certain  time  of  training,  efforts 
would  be  made  by  the  school  or  home  to  find  suita- 
ble places  for  the  girls.  Thus  it  was  hoped  that  this 
class  of  young  girls,  growing  u]3  in  idle  and  vaga- 
bond habits,  would  learn  a  useful,  industrial  calling, 
and  might  be  brought  under  the  best  personal  influ- 
ence. 

But  the  enterprise,  under  Mr.  Booth's  active  in- 
terest, took  larger  proportions  than  Mr.  Brace  had 
at  first  dared  hope.  They  opened  a  shelter  called 
"The  Girls'  Lodging-House,"  where  any  drifting, 
friendless  girl  could  go  for  a  night's  lodging.  If 
she  had  means,  she  was  to  pay  a  trifling  sum, —  five 
or  six  cents;  if  not,  she  must  aid  in  the  labor  of 
the  house,  and  thus,  in  part,  defray  the  expense  of 
her  board.  Agents  were  sent  out  on  the  docks  and 
into  the  slums,  the  police  were  informed  of  the 
refuge,  notices  were  posted  in  station-houses,  and 
near  ferries  and  railroad-stations,  and  everything  was 
done  to  reach  out  the  hand  of  welcome  to  the  home- 
less girl  wandering  in  loneliness,  to  let  her  know 
that  there  was  a  shelter  for  her  in  the  great  cit}'. 
The  response  was  immediate.  Girls  of  every  kind, 
with  histories  of  endless  diversity,  but  all  unfortu- 
nate, whether  through  their  own  fault  or  not,  came 
in  throngs.     Desirable  as  it  was  that  none  should 


iEx.  36]       LODGIXG-HOUSE  MANAGEMENT  253 

be  denied  admission,  the  practical  difficulties  ren- 
dered this  impossible.  It  was  not  intended  to  make 
of  the  lodging-house  a  reformatory  for  those  already 
perverted,  which  must  result  in  either  shutting  out 
the  decent  and  honest  poor,  or  in  submitting  them 
to  demoralizing  influences.  The  decision  Avas  soon 
arrived  at  by  Mr.  Brace,  that  admission  must  be 
refused  to  all  women  over  eighteen  jeavs  of  age,  in 
order  that,  in  the  outset,  the  more  hardened  sinners 
might  be  excluded ;  and  for  the  farther  protection  of 
those  for  whom  the  lodging-house  was  intended,  as 
well  as  for  the  elevation  into  a  better  womanhood  of 
those  on  the  borderland  between  virtue  and  degrada- 
tion, he  trusted  to  the  steadying  influence  of  the 
habit  of  regular  work  on  the  part  of  all  the  inmates 
of  the  house. 

Mr.  Brace  says  in  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of 
New  York"  that  the  struggles  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Trott,  the  superintendent  and  matron,  against  dis- 
couraging evils  in  the  character  of  this  class,  would 
make  a  strange  history.  But  they  were  well  fitted 
for  the  task,  and  before  long  habits  of  personal  clean- 
liness, of  early  rising  and  going  to  bed  at  a  regular 
hour,  were  taught  to  the  girls,  and  tasks  of  the  sim- 
plest nature  in  housework  were  set  for  the  regular 
inmates  of  the  home.  Some  few  paid  their  board, 
and  went  out  to  work  in  factories  or  shops,  but  the 
most  were   employed   in   housework,  and   thus    did 


254  CHARLES   LORING   BRACE  [1862 

something  to  help  pay  for  their  support.  As  the 
establishment  increased,  they  carried  on  its  entire 
work,  and  when  instruction  in  sewing  and  machine- 
work  had  been  added  to  that  given  in  cooking  and 
household  duties,  thousands  of  garments  were  made 
for  children  in  the  care  of  the  society  elsewhere. 
Although  desiring  that  it  should  be  considered  a 
home,  Mr.  Brace  had  a  strong  objection  to  having 
the  lodging-house  looked  upon  as  an  institution  or 
professional  "  Home. "  "  The  great  danger  and  temp- 
tation of  such  establishments,"  he  says,  "are  in  the 
desire  of  keeping  the  inmates,  and  showing  to  the 
public  your  reforms."  He  did  not  want  asylum 
influences,  any  treating  of  the  girls  en  bloc,  or  as 
machines.  "To  teach  them  to  work,  to  be  clean, 
and  to  understand  the  virtues  of  order  and  punctu- 
ality; to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  housekeeper  or 
servant;  to  bring  the  influences  of  discipline,  of 
kindness,  and  religion  to  bear  on  these  wild  and 
ungoverned  creatures,  —  these  were  to  be  the  great 
objects  of  the  lodging-house.  Then  some  good  home 
or  respectable  family  were  to  do  the  rest.  We  were 
to  keep  lodgers  a  little  while  only,  and  then  to  pass 
them  along  to  situations  or  places  of  work."  ^ 

The  good  work  of  this   important  branch  of   the 
society  was  inestimably  aided  by  the  personal  and 
earnest  labors  of  one  of  the  first  trustees,  Mr.  B.  J. 
1  "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  309. 


iET.  30]       TRUANT-OFFICERS  APPOINTED  255 

Howland,  who  went  constantly  to  the  home,  talked 
on  religious  subjects  to  the  girls,  planned  amuse- 
ments for  them,  and  became  a  friend  to  many  of 
them. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  winter  saw  an 
occurrence  which  Mr.  Brace  considered  of  great 
moment  in  affecting  the  condition  of  the  poor, —  the 
appointment  of  "truant-officers  "  for  the  city,  by  the 
Commissioners  of  Police.  The  reports  of  the  society 
had  been  urging  the  advisability  of  this  measure  for 
some  years,  and  it  was  at  Mr.  Brace's  urgent  applica- 
tion that  finally  two  officers  and  a  sergeant  were  de- 
tailed for  this  duty.  The  results  made  manifest  in 
two  months'  time  were  the  transformation  of  more 
than  five  hundred  truants  into  regular  school- 
attendants. 


CHAPTER   IX 

Ethnological  Book — Progress  of  Children's  Aid  Society  in  Spite  of 
the  War  —  Death  of  Mrs.  Schuyler  —  Letter  to  a  Trustee  of 
Children's  Aid  Society  explaining  Mr.  Brace's  Right  to  Private 
Views  as  a  Private  Individual — Plans  for  English  Journey  — 
Lincoln's  Death  —  Experience  in  England  —  English  Lack  of 
Sympathy  in  the  War  —  In  the  Tyrol  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  — 
Illness  —  California  Trip  —  Death  of  Miss  Neill  —  Death  of  Mr. 
Loring  —  Progress  of  Society's  Work  —  Newsboys'  Lodging- 
House  —  Letter  to  Beecher  —  Darwinism  —  Factory  Children 

Early  in  1863,  Mr.  Brace  issued,  in  the  form  of 
a  manual,  a  book  on  the  results  of  the  ethnological 
studies  which  had  occupied  his  studious  hours  for 
ten  years  or  more,  under  the  title,  "  The  Races  of 
the  Old  World."  In  the  preface  he  says,  "The 
present  'Manual  of  the  Ethnology  of  the  Old  World  ' 
is  designed,  not  so  much  for  the  learned,  as  for  the 
large  number  of  persons  who  are  interested  in  the 
study  of  history,  whether  in  academies  and  colleges, 
or  among  the  people  of  business  and  professions. 
.  .  .  This  treatise  is  intended  to  present  in  brief 
and  clear  form  the  latest  and  most  trustworthy  re- 
sults of  scholarship  and  scientific  investigation  bear- 
ing on  the  question  of  races,  and  to  furnish  a  guide, 
imperfect  though  it  may  be,  to  the  study  of  history." 

256 


iET.  37]  THE   DRAFT   RIOTS  257 

One  or  two  sentences  from  an  article  in  the  "  Inde- 
pendent," on  "Ethnological  Fallacies"  (Dec.  20, 
1860),  will  serve  to  indicate  how,  even  amid  the 
heats  of  impending  war,  his  mind  rested  naturally 
on  the  broad  principles  of  scientific  truth.  " .  .  .  It 
is  a  shame  that  now,  all  through  Europe,  American 
science  in  ethnology  has  become  identical  with  per- 
verted argument  for  the  oppression  of  the  negro, 
and  an  American's  conclusions  upon  the  black  races 
are  as  certain  a  priori  as  would  be  a  Brahmin's  on 
the  origin  or  rights  of  his  caste  in  India.  The 
shadow  of  our  national  sin  has  fallen  even  on  the 
domain  of  our  science,  and  obscured  its  noble  feat- 
ures to  the  world.  Of  course,  the  only  method  for 
philosophy  is  to  divorce  the  whole  subject  from 
sympathy,  whether  for  slavery  or  freedom,  and 
stand  on  the  solid  basis  of  facts  and  inductive 
reasoning." 

The  summer  of  1863  saw  a  practical  proof,  in  the 
terrible  draft-riots,  of  the  necessity,  dwelt  upon  for 
years  by  the  society,  of  caring  for  the  street  boys,  who 
swelled  the  numbers  of  ruffians  attacking  houses  or 
torturing  negroes,  and  showed  into  what  an  element 
street  children,  grown  up  in  neglect  and  unrestrained, 
may  develop. 

After  ten  years  of  experience,  Mr.  Brace  was  able 
to  speak  in  1863,  with  gratitude,  of  the  continued 
support  of  the  society  on  the  part  of  the  public,  and 


258  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1863 

especially  of  the  steady  growth  of  the  branch  of  emi- 
gration. In  spite  of  the  calamities  inflicted  by  the 
war,  and  the  absence  of  heads  of  families,  the  West 
had  never  contributed  so  liberally,  or  called  for  so 
many  children,  while  there  had  been  no  indication 
whatever  of  the  evil  prophesied  by  those  opposed  to 
emigration.  He  says  that  if  there  had  been  grounds 
for  the  charge  that  they  were  sowing  "  seeds  of  vice 
and  crime  "  in  the  West,  by  this  time  an  immense 
harvest  of  sin  and  misery  would  have  appeared, 
while,  on  the  contrary,  letters  were  constantly  tell- 
ing of  boys  and  girls  grown  to  happy  manhood  and 
womanhood,  some  with  property  of  their  own,  some 
as  teachers,  while  so  many  of  the  boys  had  gone  to 
fight  for  their  country  that  the  correspondence  dur- 
ing this  year  might  almost  have  been  called  "  Letters 
from  the  Camp."  He  says  that  one  of  the  pleasantest 
features  in  regard  to  the  children  sent  West,  is  in 
their  desire  to  help  others  as  they  have  been  helped, 
and  he  tells  of  visits  to  the  office  of  some  of  the  boys 
sent  away  in  the  early  years,  one  coming»to  suggest 
that  he  should  like  to  open  a  reform  school  in  the 
country,  to  aid  city  boys;  another,  with  a  good 
home,  asks  for  a  homeless  boy  to  bring  up  himself. 

Mr.  Brace  enlarges  on  the  far  greater  difficulty  of 
bringing  good  American  influences  to  bear  on  these 
children  than  on  any  in  inland  towns,  owing  to  the 
constant  foreign  immigration,  and  goes  on,  as  fol- 


iEx.  37]     ELEMENTS  OF   SOCIAL  PROGRESS  259 

lows,  to   explain   what   these   American    influences 


are 


"  If  we  look  closely,  we  shall  see  that  the  power- 
ful influences  in  the  United  States  which  tend  con- 
tinually to  raise  up  the  lowest  classes  and  prevent 
the  formation  of  a  'dangerous  class,'  like  the  Euro- 
pean are  (1)  the  Social  and  (2)  the  Educational.  In 
the  social  influences,  we  include  all  our  extraordi- 
narily favorable  economic  circumstances  in  America, 
the  great  demand  for  labor,  and  the  wonderful  con- 
ditions for  its  successful  application ;  the  removal  of 
very  many  legal  burdens  on  profitable  production, 
and  the  consequent  general  pecuniary  prosperity  of 
the  laboring  class;  all  of  which  tend  to  give  a  high 
social  tone  to  the  working-people  of  our  country. 
They  respect  themselves  more  than  the  correspond- 
ing class  do  in  any  other  country.  They  have  tra- 
ditional habits  of  cleanliness,  independence,  good 
order,  and  decency.  Any  one  coming  among  them 
and  violating  these  characteristic  habits  of  the  class, 
receives  the  most  severe  punishment  which  a  woik- 
ingman  can  feel  —  the  contempt  of  his  own  fellows 
and  companions.  In  the  educational  influences,  we 
comprise  all  those  subtile  influences  of  the  school,  the 
Church,  and  the  State,  which,  transmitted  in  Amer- 
ica from  father  to  child,  are  so  powerfully  mould- 
ing the  whole  youthful  population  of  the  Union. 
No  one  living  in  a  rural  district  can  altogether 
escape  the  indirect  power  of  these  influences.  The 
necessity  of  education,  the  reality  of  religion,  the 
consciousness  of  being  a  citizen  with  political  power 


260  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1863 

in  a  great  Republic,  are  ideas  so  profound  in  the 
laboring  class  of  our  country  districts,  that  no 
one,  however  low,  utterly  fails  to  be  affected  by 
them."i 

It  is  to  give  children  these  chances  that  the  society 
works,  and  in  detail  Mr.  Brace  tells  how  they  hope  to 
effect  this. 

"We  have  attempted,  first  of  all,  to  change  the 
whole  social  condition  of  the  outcast  child.  We  have 
sometimes,  as  it  has  seemed  to  a  few,  placed  him 
almost  too  suddenly  in  a  family.  But  we  have 
felt  confident  that  the  social  influences  of  an  honest 
farmer's  family  and  an  intelligent  rural  community, 
were  so  powerful  that  they  could,  in  time,  give  a 
new  cast  and  shape  to  the  character  of  even  the  most 
unfortunate  and  degraded  child.  The  wonderful  and 
most  fortunate  fact,  this  complement  existing  be- 
tween the  vast  supply  of  youthful  labor  in  our  cities, 
and  the  immense  demand  for  it  in  our  rural  commu- 
nities, embraces  the  natural  laws  of  economy  on 
which  we  have  acted.  Our  next  great  effort  has 
been  to  educate  the  ignorant  children  of  the  city, 
through  industrial  schools,  'boys'  meetings,'  work- 
shops, reading-rooms,  lodging-houses,  and  the  like. 
The  effect  of  these  instrumentalities  can  be  doubted 
by  no  one.  The  children  who  are  trained  by  them 
are  not  those  who  become  robbers  and  law-breakers. 
On  the  contrary,  as  we  have  tested  for  so  many  years, 

1  Eleventh  Annual  Report,  pp.  6,  7. 


JEt.  37]         ILLNESS  OF  MRS.  SCHUYLER  261 

they  grow  up  industrious,  honest,  and  respectable 
young  men  and  women."  ^ 

A  great  shadow  came  over  the  quiet  little  home  in 
Hastings  in  the  autumn  of  this  year,  in  the  illness 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brace's  dear  friend,  Mrs.  G.  L. 
Schuyler,  to  which  he  alludes  in  the  following 
letter : — 

"Your  conversation  with  Mrs.  Schuyler  on  that 
evening,"  he  writes  Mr.  F.  L.  Olmsted  in  Novem- 
ber, 1863,  "will  be  your  last,  and,  furtherrnore,  she 
knew  then  she  was  dying  !  She  is  dying  grandly, 
with  the  brightest  hope  and  courage,  while  we  find 
a  cloud  over  everything.  To  me,  her  death  is  an 
unspeakable  loss  —  the  noblest  woman  of  our  conti- 
nent, I  think." 

In  reply,  Mr.  Olmsted  writes :  — 

Beak  Valley,  Cal.,  Dec.  21,  1863. 
Dear  Charley :  I  have  yours  of  7th  November.  I 
had  heard  before  about  Mrs.  Schuyler.  She  is  so 
associated  with  all  that  is  good  and  great  in  my 
mind,  that  I  shall  feel  as  if  her  death  were  a  part 
of  the  war.  The  war  has  made  sudden  and  most 
lamentable  death  something  not  to  be  surprised  or 
shocked  at.  We  love,  revere,  and  rest  our  hearts 
upon  great  souls  with  that  condition.  As  for  Mrs. 
Schuyler,  I  believe  that  I  wish  in  my  soul  that  I 
were  in  her  place.     In  every  way,  it  seems  to  me 

1  Eleventh  Annual  Report,  p.  8. 


262  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1864 

she  will  die  triumphant,  her  life  brought  as  nearly 
to  a  satisfactory  completion  as  human  life  can  be. 
In  years,  she  is  yet  young,  but  years  are  no  measure 
of  life.  The  war  makes  us  all  old,  it  seems  to  me. 
...  As  to  the  war,  I  always  told  you  your  impa- 
tience, your  regard  for  particular  enterprises,  events, 
men,  battles,  campaigns,  was  foolish.  "Be  still 
and  see  the  salvation  of  God,"  as  old  Lincoln  says. 
None  the  less  is  there  work  to  do  always  by  every 
man,  —  chiefly  for  you  and  me  to  keep  up  the  faith 
of  people  and  make  them  look  far  ahead,  as  is  not 
their  custom  in  everyday  affairs. 

Referring  again  to  his  friend  and  her  death,  Mr. 
Brace  says :  — 

To  F.  L.  Olmsted. 

New  York,  Feb.  4,  1864. 
My  dear  Fred:  Your  anticipations  in  regard  to 
Mrs.  Schuyler's  death  were  fully  justified.  Take  it 
altogether,  it  was  the  most  remarkable  instance  of 
the  triumph  of  soul  over  body,  I  ever  read  of.  Her 
belief  in  the  next  world,  or  life,  was  perfectly  real 
and  inspiring  —  so  remarkable  and  entire  that  people 
came  to  her  to  impart  their  feelings  to  friends  they 
had  lost.  She  rested  with  a  most  supreme  trust  on 
what  she  called  God.  He  was  as  real  to  her,  she 
said  once,  "as  this  bedstead."  Not  a  doubt  or  com- 
plaint or  regret  apparently  crossed  her  mind  at  her 
going, —  so  real  was  the  next,  —  and  even  her  torture 
seemed  to  be  forgotten  in  the  glory  of  her  hope.  Yet 
her  mind  was  just  as  calm  and  clear  and  full  of 


JEx.  38]        DEFENSE  OF  PRIVATE  VIEWS  203 

common-sense,  as  we  ever  knew  it,  attending  to 
every  detail  and  always  thoughtful  of  others.  We 
all  said  but  for  the  weak  voice  we  should  hardly 
have  imagined  she  was  so  ill.  Our  talks  were  just 
about  as  they  always  had  been.   .   .   . 

"We  shall  do  our  daily  duty  better,"  he  writes  to 
his  sister,  Miss  Dora  Neill,  "be  more  unselfish  and 
noble  and  refined  for  her  example.  In  our  inner 
lives  there  will  be  another  saint  to  lead  us  up  to 
Christ  and  better  things.  .  .  .  You  know  what  a 
fearful  gap  her  death  makes  in  my  life,  which  noth- 
ing can  fill." 

A  letter  written  from  the  Adirondacks  in  August, 
1864,  well  sets  forth  Mr.  Brace's  relations  to  the 
society,  and  his  amenability  to  criticism :  — 


To  a  Trustee. 

Lower  Saranac,  Aug.  7,  1864. 

My  dear  Mr. ;  Your  note  of  the  23d  prox., 

and  the  inclosure  from  the  "  World  "  was  forwarded 
to  me  here.  The  letter  from  the  "World,"  signed 
Veritas,  contains  a  question  of  veracity  between  me 
and  an  anonymous  correspondent,  and  you  are  kind 
enough  to  state  that  the  "best  interests  of  the  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society  may  be  injured  "  by  his  remarks 
and  the  statement  which  caused  them.  I  deeply 
regret  giving  any  offence  to  so  kind  a  friend  of  the 
poor,  and  so  devoted  a  trustee  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  as   yourself,  but   I    think   when   you   have 


264  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1864 

heard  my  explanation,  you  will  be  less  dissatisfied 
with  my  course. 

From  the  origin  of  our  society,  I  have  carefully 
adopted  one  course,  never  in  any  report  or  document 
or  speech  in  behalf  of  the  society  or  about  it,  or  any- 
where officially  as  its  secretary,  to  broach  any  con- 
troverted religious  or  political  subject,  and  you  may 
judge  how  carefully  the  principle  has  been  followed, 
when  you  remember  that,  though  j^our  and  my  opin- 
ions are  probably  diametrically  opposed  on  many 
questions,  we  have  never,  till  the  present  occasion, 
had  the  slightest  difference.  On  one  or  two  occa- 
sions, expressions  have,  through  negligence,  been 
left  in  the  letters  of  the  boys  which  offended  you, 
but  which  I  immediately  struck  out  on  my  attention 
being  called  to  them.  On  the  other  hand,  from  the 
first  founding  of  the  society,  I  have  claimed,  in  my 
action  as  a  private  citizen  or  author  or  newspaper 
writer  on  general  subjects,  the  most  entire  inde- 
pendence. In  the  beginning,  I  took  an  active  part 
in  the  religious  papers  in  urging  greater  liberality 
of  sects  and  more  independence  of  thought  and  cer- 
tain practical  and  religious  reforms  which  were  then 
quite  offensive  to  certain  portions  of  the  Church.  I 
was  charged  with  " unitarianism "  and  "semi-infi- 
delity." Our  lamented  friend,  Mr.  G — ;  spoke  to 
me  about  them,  and  feared  their  influence  on  the 
interests  of  the  society,  but  when  I  explained  my 
deep  convictions  on  them,  and  the  distinction  be- 
tween my  private  and  my  official  character,  he  was 
satisfied. 

Afterwards,  some  of  my  scientific  articles  gave 
equal  offence,  but  no  harm  ensued  to  the  society. 


JEt.  38]    PERSONAL  vs.  OFFICIAL  UTTERANCES     265 

Then  I  took  part  and  fought  through  the  anti-slavery 
question,  writing  incessantly  through  the  religious 
and  secular  papers  over  my  signature,  and  calling 
out  some  bitter  controversies.  When  the  society 
was  far  weaker  on  its  legs  than  now,  I  wrote  and 
spoke  in  the  Fremont  campaign,  in  the  city  elections, 
and  defended  old  John  Brown,  and  wrote  during  the 
first  campaign  for  Lincoln,  and  afterwards  in  the 
beginning  of  the  Rebellion,  over  my  signature. 
Judge  Mason,  one  of  the  most  prudent  men  in  the 
world,  and  others  of  the  trustees,  have  spoken  to  me 
on  the  matter,  but  on  my  representing  that  this  was 
entirely  individual,  and  was  so  understood  by  the 
public,  they  have  admitted  the  distinction,  and,  as 
you  are  aware,  all  shades  of  religious  and  political 
opinion  have  always  approved  our  charitable  work. 
Now  our  society  is  as  well  founded  as  any  insti- 
tution in  the  city,  and  no  word  of  an  anonymous 
writer  could  injure  it,  unless  we  had  compromised 
ourselves  as  a  society.  All  other  societies  and  cor- 
porations follow  this  rule;  their  agents  in  their  indi- 
vidual capacities  write  and  say  many  things  which 
officially  would  not  be  permitted  a  moment.  Any 
other  principle  would  strip  an  agent  of  his  individ- 
uality. 

I  know,  dear  sir,  how  strong  your  convictions  are 
on  questions  of  liberality  and  humanity.  You  will 
believe  that  mine  are  equally  so,  and  that  I  seek  the 
truth.  If  my  remarks  about  the  "  current  opinions  " 
of  the  soldiers  and  great  numbers  of  the  public  are 
not  true,  I  shall  be  quite  willing  to  avow  it,  but  an 
anonymous  answer  like  that  does  not  disprove  them. 
You  can  well  judge,  from  my  mental  characteristics, 


266  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1865 

that  I  am  not  likely  to  be  fanatical  or  extreme  in  the 
course  I  have  sketched,  and  am  always  ready  to  be 
governed  by  the  wisdom  of  those  more  experienced, 
when  my  own  conscience  approves.  I  trust  again 
to  unite  with  you  in  the  autumn,  to  give  my  whole 
energies  to  making  the  work  of  our  society  more 
thorough  and  beneficent.  Believe  me,  dear  sir, 
with  much  respect,  etc. 

During  the  winter  following,  early  in  1865,  it  was 
decided  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  society  to 
send  Mr.  Brace  to  an  exhibition  in  London,  "of 
the  labors  of  the  different  reformatory  and  charitable 
institutions  of  all  nations,"  to  be  held  in  May. 

The  approaching  event  is  announced  in  a  letter  to 
Miss  Dora  Neill,  dated  March  17th:  — 

"I  don't  know  wdiat  you  will  all  say  when  you 
hear  that  our  society  are  going  to  send  me  out  to 
London  to  the  International  Reformatory  Union  in 
May,  leaving  here  the  last  of  April  (say  29th).  After 
I  get  through  with  "ragged  schools,"  etc.,  I  am 
allowed  to  travel  on  my  own  account  till  September, 
so  I  shall  go  into  the  mountains,  say  in  July,  and 
try  to  recruit  my  eyes  with  Swiss  or  Tyrol  air  for  a 
couple  of  months.  Isn't  it  a  nice  programme?  The 
only  unpleasant  point  is  leaving  wife  and  family 
here  with  M.  A.  But  it  would  hardly  do  to  take 
them  such  a  great  journey,  and  costs  too  much.  .  .  . 
All  well  here.  The  war  moves  on  splendidly.  Sher- 
man comes  like  a  glacier, —  slow,  irresistible,  all- 
conquering." 


^T.  38]  DEATH   OF   LINCOLN  267 

In  the  midst  of  these  plans  for  the  summer  and 
congratulations  about  the  war,  came  the  terrible 
tidings  of  Lincoln's  death.  The  family  were  at 
morning  prayers  in  the  little  sunny  parlor  at  Hast- 
ings, when  the  oldest  boy  burst  in  with  the  news 
that  Lincoln  was  shot!  Mr.  Brace  was  completely 
overcome  by  the  news,  and  how  deeply  he  felt  it  is 
shown  in  the  extract  from  an  address  given  at  this 
time.  The  hastily  written  notes  found  among  his 
papers  do  not  indicate  when  or  where  the  address 
was  given. 

"Through  this  astounding  event,  how  are  the 
people  led  to  God!  Li  the  height  of  our  exultation 
and  consciousness  of  our  power,  with  victory  flaunt- 
ing in  every  banner,  we  are  taught  that  we  are  but 
drifting  weeds  on  the  great  eternal  currents  of  Provi- 
dence. God  speaks  to  all,  as  He  never  spoke  before, 
in  that  bloody  drama  of  Good  Friday,  Then  let  us 
sorrow  not,  as  those  without  hope !  This  Rej)ublic, 
through  all  storms  and  perils,  is  sailing  now  steadily 
on  under  a  higher  pilotage,  towards  justice,  free- 
dom, and  unity.  She  shall  be,  even  more  than  shf 
has  been,  the  hope  and  joy  and  inspiration  of  all 
peoples  and  races.  And  thou,  O  great  leader,  wept 
by  a  whole  nation  as  was  never  king  or  crowned 
emperor  or  military  chieftain,  and  most  of  all  mourned 
in  the  cabins  of  the  poor  and  the  slave,  to  our  eyes 
thou  hast  died  too  soon,  but  to  the  eyes  of  all  poster- 
ity, the  morning  of  thy  bloody  sacrifice  will  seem 
but  the  forerunner  of  that  glorious  resurrection  day 


268  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1865 

to  liberty  and  unity  and  peace  of  thy  country.  Thy 
slmmef ul  \yound  will  become  the  martyr's  testimony ; 
at  thy  tomb  will  gather  all  those  who  hate  injustice 
and  love  humanity,  for  new  inspiration  and  strength, 
and  thy  name  will  be  synonymous  with  the  free- 
dom and  success  of  the  great  American  Republic! 
For  thine  own  fame,  thou  couldst  have  died  on  no 
better  day!" 

He  sailed  early  in  May,  and  went  to  the  beautiful 
home  of  his  brother-in-law  on  Hampstead  Heath. 
The  exhibition  was  very  successful  in  its  object  of 
bringing  together  those  interested  in  the  work  of 
saving  the  young  from  crime  and  misery.  Many 
lands,  even  Egypt  and  Syria,  were  represented.  The 
convention  of  delegates  was  full  of  suggestion  to  all 
who  took  part,  and  Mr.  Brace  found  that,  in  his 
opinion.  Great  Britain  was  far  in  advance  of  us  in 
sanitary  reform  and  legislature,  and  in  such  efforts 
as  workingmen's  clubs,  while  there  was  nothing 
among  the  English  equal  to  our  lodging-houses,  and 
no  such  large  work  of  emigration  as  was  carried  on 
by  the  Children's  Aid  Society. 

His  letters  from  London  are  as  follows :  — 


To  Us  Wife. 

Hampstead,  Belsize  Lodge,  June,  1865. 
My  dearest    Wife :    I    enjoy  this    beautiful    place 
and  the  rest  and  home  feeling  here  so  much.     Then 


^T.  38]  ENGLAND   REVISITED  269 

I  work  hard  enough  to  make  sleep  and  society  both 
enjoyable.  1  find  I  get  on  so  slowly.  London  is  so 
immense,  and  people  are  so  often  out.  Still,  I  am 
getting  light  in  sanitary  matters  and  schools. 

In  private,  the  Lyells  have  been  very  polite  to  me. 
The  very  first  moment  we  met,  he  struck  off  at  once 
into  my  review  of  Mr.  Wallace,  and  a  discussion  of 
the  subject  which  suited  me  well.  Generally,  in 
introducing  me,  he  mentions  that  review.  Lady 
Lyell  was  as  noble  in  looks  and  character  as  ever. 
Such  strong  Americans  as  they  are !  She  never  looks 
at  the  "Times."  Since  then,  he  has  invited  me  to 
the  dinner  of  the  Geological  Society.  He  gave  me 
two  of  those  precious  drift-flints  —  great  treasures. 
.  .  .  The  other  night  came  an  invitation  to  a  stylish 
dinner  by  Mr.  Russell  Scott.  There  I  met  a  famous 
diner-out,  a  Mr.  Crabb  Robinson,  friend  of  Charles 
Lamb,  and  ninety  years  old.  ...  I  have  met  a  most 
interesting  set  of  sanitarians, —  able,  clear-headed 
men  of  the  middle  class,  improving  England  won- 
derfully now, —  and  am  learning  much.  I  have  been 
examining  "ragged  schools"  and  reformatories  and 
model  lodging-houses,  and  am  collecting  a  vast  num- 
ber of  reports,  etc.  Last  night  W.  and  I  spent  with 
Mrs.  Charles.^  She  lives  just  on  the  heath  —  a 
beautiful  home  with  a  pretty  yard  (or  "garden,"  as 
they  call  it  here),  and  a  lovely  distant  view  from 
the  parlor- window  over  the  heath  to  groves  and 
spires  The  east  window  looks  over  London.  She 
has  eyes  full  of  feeling  and  a  very  hearty,  sincere, 
modest  manner,  with  an  expression    of  simple  fer- 

^  Mrs.  Berrie  Charles,  author  of  "  The  Schonberg-Cotta  Family." 


270  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1865 

veiicy  about  her;  in  fact,  she  is  much  like  her  works, 
—  simple,  unconscious,  deeply  religious,  and  full  of 
feeling  and  humanity.  I  never  saw  a  literary  person 
more  unconscious  of  her  success,  and  she  is  almost 
indifferent  to  it.  Does  not  allude  to  her  works.  Is 
almost  pained  that  they  are  alluded  to.  I  told  her 
how  much  they  had  done  for  so  many,  and  what 
different  sects  read  them,  as  I  was  going  out,  and 
she  whispered,  as  if  half  afraid  of  her  own  feeling: 
"  Oh,  if  we  can  make  our  Lord  the  central  figure,  we 
can  all  come  together!"  .  .  .  All  her  talk  is  very 
kind  and  sweet  and  intelligent. 


To  the  Same. 

Bklsize  Lodge,  London, 

Sunday,  June  13,  1865. 

My  dearest  Wife :  Went  round  among  the  thieves' 
lodging-houses  last  night.  We  had  inspectors  with 
us.  'Twas  very  interesting.  The  officers  examine 
everything,  ventilation  and  all.  The  new  ones  for 
the  men  (for  threepence  a  night)  are  much  better 
than  they  used  to  be.  Sanitary  reform  is  accom- 
plishing something  in  London.  Lord  Kinnaird  took 
me  to  a  very  interesting  school  of  his  for  poor  chil- 
dren, and  showed  me  some  new  ideas  in  ventilation. 
He  invited  me  to  dine,  but  I  could  not  come.  I 
have  enjoyed  the  picture-galleries  at  intervals  much. 
It  is  grand  to  have  such  things  free.  I  think  one  of 
the  best  moral  agencies  in  London  is  the  parks,  but 
every  gallery  and  museum  ought  to  be  open  on  Sun- 
day, and  the  rum-shops  closed.     The  bands  play  on 


^T.  38]  SANITARY   REFORM  271 

Sunday,  I  believe.  ...  I  hope  to  start  for  the 
Tyrol  from  here  on  July  2d.  I  begin  to  feel  the 
wear  of  this  life,  which  has  been  tolerably  "fast."  I 
have  an  invitation  to  a  Social  Science  dinner  at 
Richmond,  June  24th,  Lord  Brougham  presiding. 

Mr.  Brace  speaks  of  feeling  "  the  wear  of  this  life, 
which  has  been  tolerably  fast"!  It  is  an  astonish- 
ment to  read  the  notes  he  took  and  the  lists  of  the 
subjects  into  which  he  studied.  After  letting  us 
see  the  sesthetic  satisfaction  that  beautiful  England 
gives  him,  he  speaks,  in  his  writings  for  the  press, 
of  the  consolation  it  may  be  to  the  American  who  is 
sadly  comparing  his  own  formal  villages  and  square 
yards  at  home  with  the  ivy-covered,  thatched  cottages 
of  England,  to  know  the  difficulties  that  the  new 
sanitary  efforts  have  to  encounter,  and  he  goes  into 
the  most  detailed  description  of  ventilation,  drains, 
sewerage,  the  inspection  of  lodging-houses  carried 
on  by  competent  health-officers,  the  strict  provisions 
against  over-crowding  —  all  the  matters  in  which 
New  York,  he  says,  would  do  well  to  follow  English 
legislation.  He  is  profoundly  impressed  by  the 
efforts  made  for  the  improvement  of  the  condition 
of  the  poor,  and  in  one  letter  on  "  European  Social 
Reforms  "  says :  — 

"  If  we  were  to  search  about  through  England  for 
the  modern  'chivalry '  of  the  kingdom,  one  would 
not  find  it  among  the  titled  and  lordly,  though  among 


272  CHARLES  LORING   BRACE  [1865 

these  are  many  'true  knights,'  but  especially  in  that 
great,  vigorous  middle  class  from  which  the  best  of 
modern  England  comes.  In  this  powerful  class  may 
be  found  men  who  have  consecrated  themselves  to 
a  life-long  crusade  against  the  great  enemies  of 
modern  society,  who  are  fighting  a  heroic  battle  each 
day  against  ignorance  and  prejudice  and  vice  and 
disease  and  death.  It  is  these  men  of  the  true 
Anglo-Saxon  pluck  and  pertinacity,  never  disheart- 
ened by  defeat  or  disaster,  never  wearied  out  by  the 
marvellous  stupidity  of  the  public  they  are  seeking 
to  benefit,  who  have  covered  England  with  the  re- 
markable sanitary  improvements  and  institutions  of 
education  and  reform  which  have  so  distinguished 
English  progress  during  the  last  ten  years." 

Of  his  visit  to  Miss  Carpenter,  he  writes  with 
enthusiasm :  — 

To  his  Wife. 

Clifton,  June  19,  1865. 

Dearest  Wife :  Thirty-nine !  How  old  I  seem ! 
How  strange  that  youth  is  gone,  and  middle  age  at 
hand!  So  few  years  left!  So  near  the  great  ending, 
the  best  part  of  life's  work  nearly  done,  the  awful 
problem  of  existence  almost  solved,  and  character 
becoming  fixed  for  scecula  sceculorum, —  ages  of  ages. 

I  am  having  such  a  valuable  and  delightful  visit 
with  Miss  Carpenter,  a  fine,  noble  creature,  with 
such  sound  ideas,  so  liberal  and  warm-hearted  and 
practical.  She  has  filled  up  every  moment.  Satur- 
day evening  we  spent  in  talk,  she  giving  me  a  full 
account  of   the  new  and  remarkable   improvements 


JEt.  30]  VISIT  TO   MISS  CARPENTER  273 

in  prisons  inaugurated  in  Ireland  under  Sir  Walter 
Crofton,  and  now  successful.  Then  a  great  deal  of 
her  schools  and  reformatories,  and  her  clubs,  coffee- 
rooms,  etc.,  etc. 

To  J.  3Iacy. 

Stratford,  June  27, 1865. 
My  dear  Macy :  One  of  the  most  interesting  visits 
I  have  paid  in  England  was  to  Miss  Carpenter,  Bris- 
tol. She  is  so  grateful  to  us  for  the  kindness  we 
have  shown  to  her  poor  boys,  and  has  such  a  sj^mpa- 
thy  in  our  work,  that  she  welcomed  me  very  warmly. 
She  really  lives  among  these  poor  creatures,  giving 
up  every  evening  to  them.  Lady  Byron  has  provided 
her  with  a  house,  and  bought  an  old  monastery  for 
her  Girls'  Reformatory.  It  is  the  most  curious  old 
building  you  ever  saw.  The  schoolroom  is  the  grand 
old  dining-hall  for  the  monks,  some  fifteen  feet  high, 
with  carved  oak  panellings,  carved  marble-works 
from  Venice  (they  say),  and  immense  fireplace. 
Then  there  are  great  stairways  and  old  windows, 
looking  out  over  the  outside  stairways  to  keep  off 
intruders;  and  secret  chambers  and  hidden  crypts 
in  which  to  say  mass  at  night ;  and  the  old  cloisters ; 
and  bedrooms  now  filled  with  clean-looking,  well-dis- 
ciplined young  girls,  such  as  you  are  familiar  with. 

Two  days  earlier  he  had  written  to  his  wife  from 
Stratford  as  follows :  — 

To  his  Wife. 

Sunday,  June  25th. 

Dearest   Wife :  I  was  thinking  to-day  in  the  old 
church  of  you  —  of  your  wonderful  unselfishness  and 


274  CHARLES   LORIJ^G  BRACE  [1865 

richness  of  love  and  spirituality  of  nature,  and  how 
you  would  be  to  me  when  we  had  entered  the  unseen 
—  as  if  you  would  be  nearer  God  than  I,  and  I  would 
see  you  in  a  purer  light  and  much  higher  than  here, 
and  whether  you  would  be  my  helper  there,  and  of 
how  sweet  and  good  you  are  here,  and  how  elevated 
sometimes  you  seem  when  near  to  God,  and  what  a 
treasure  your  love  was,  and  all  such  pleasant  thoughts. 
Yesterday  we  were  in  an  old  chapel  of  the  Warwicks 
in  Warwick,  and  there  were  two  effigies  side  by  side, 
hand  and  hand,  of  some  old  Warwick  and  his  wife. 
Together  they  had  fought  the  great  battle,  and  then 
were  laid  to  rest  together,  and  four  hundred  years 
had  surged  over  the  silent  tomb,  not  much  effacing 
it.  How  much  I  miss  you !  I  am  better  with  you, 
less  disturbed.  May  God  bless  and  keep  you  ever! 
I  wish  you  were  in  Ireland  with  me.  Love  to  all 
the  chicks! 

Soon  after  Mr.  Brace's  arrival  in  England  he 
had  written  to  his  wife :  — 

"  I  need  hardly  tell  you  (as  you  must  have  heard 
it  from  the  papers)  of  the  prodigious  change  which 
has  come  over  England  about  our  affairs.  The 
mourning  for  Lincoln  was  something  unheard  of. 
Almost  as  deep  as  in  America.  You  heard  of  the 
man  cast  out  of  the  Liverpool  Exchange,  because 
he  applauded  the  assassination?  The  feeling  all 
over  England  and  Europe  has  been  prodigious.  How 
beautiful  "Punch's"  tribute  was!  Success  and  the 
crime  toofether  have  made  a  tremendous  reaction. 
One  feels  it  in  the  air,  and  though  I  have  arrived 


^T.  39]  THE  BRITISH  BLUNDER  275 

at  the  time  when  I  am  indifferent  to  their  sym- 
pathy, I  like  the  respect  of  manner  which  a  great 
history  gives  even  to  individuals  towards  your  coun- 
try. Lyell  tells  me  they  [he  and  Lady  Lyell]  have 
had  a  hard  battle  to  fight.  They  could  count  the 
friends  of  the  North  on  their  fingers,  and  among  them 
the  Argylls.     Now  they  are  legion." 

In  a  letter  to  the  "New  York  Times,"  he  states 
his  belief  that  the  "  great  and  terrible  blunder  com- 
mitted by  the  British  Government"  cannot  be  for- 
gotten or  taken  back,  and  that  "there  can  never  be 
anything  like  union  or  near  amity  between  the  two 
governments.  But, "he  goes  on,  "between  the  great 
and  powerful  Liberal  party  of  the  kingdom  and 
the  people  of  the  North,  between,  in  fact,  the  masses 
of  both  countries,  there  may  be  a  most  friendly  and 
kindly  relation,  resting  on  a  mutual  understanding 
and  a  common  respect.  .  .  .  The  friends  we 
had  in  England  were  such  friends  as  no  nation 
ever  had  before  outside  of  its  own  limits.  Our 
cause  was  taken  to  the  very  heart  of  the  British 
Liberals.  They  felt  for  our  victories  as  they  felt  for 
their  own  in  the  Crimea.  Our  heroes  were  their 
heroes." 

He   closes :  — 

"And  now,  like  a  generous  people,  why  should 
we  not  put  aside  the  old  bitterness  and  ill-will 
which  have  rankled  in  the  breasts  of  so  many  against 


276  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1865 

England,  and  remembering  the  'up-hill  battle  '  of  the 
leading  thinkers  for  us,  and  the  grand  position 
of  her  laboring  and  suffering  masses  on  our  side, 
stretch  out  the  hand  of  sympathy  and  good-will  to 
meet  that  which  the  British  people  have  reached  to 
us !  It  is  the  clasp  of  friendship  over  the  grave  of 
the  murdered  President.  What  a  future  might  be 
to  the  civilization  of  the  world,  if  these  two  great 
Anglo-Saxon  nations  were  in  friendly  harmony! 
What  conquests  might  be  won  from  ignorance  and 
priestcraft  and  despotism!  What  strengthening  of 
popular  rights ;  what  elevation  of  the  masses ;  what  a 
spreading  of  science  and  arts  and  humanity  and  true 
liberty ;  what  an  uplifting  of  all  Europe,  if  these  two 
leaders  of  modern  democracy  were  hand  in  hand! 
And  then,  when  one  thinks  of  the  future  of  Chris- 
tianity, that  these  two  powerful  civilizations  are  the 
leading  representatives  of  the  great  truths  which  are 
to  regenerate  the  world;  that  their  enmity  would 
put  back  the  advance  of  a  pure  religion  for  genera- 
tions, and  their  union  would  advance  the  Christian 
banner  over  new  fields  and  in  new  directions,  we 
may  all,  who  care  more  for  humanity  than  to  gratify 
the  narrow  prejudices  of  race,  pray  and  labor  for 
the  friendship  and  union  of  America  and  Eng- 
land." 

In  July,  Mr.  Brace  started  on  a  walking  trip  in 
the  Tyrol,  and  the  following  letters  show  how  keen 
was  his  delight  in  the  scenes  through  which,  knap- 
sack on  back,  he  walked  for  many  happy  days.  The 
first  we  have  is  from  Innsbruck. 


^T.  39]  IN  THE  TYROL  277 

To  his  Wife. 

Innsbruck,  July  22  [1865]. 
Dearest  Wife :  .  .  .  That  night  I  had  an  inter- 
esting adventure.  I  had  walked  my  ten  hours,  and 
was  well  tired.  Did  not  know  of  any  good  inn, 
so  I  thought  I  would  stop  and  try  a  good-looking 
priest's  house.  Priest  away,  but  his  assistant  there. 
He  concluded  to  receive  me ;  —  just  dining  with  a 
Capuchin  monk  in  huge  rough  frock  and  cowl.  I 
brought  out  my  tea.  The  vicar  had  tasted  it  once, 
the  Capuchin  never,  and  the  cook  knew  nothing 
about  it,  but  I  gave  instructions,  and  it  was  brought 
in  and  served  in  goblets  —  the  vicar's  and  others 
with  rum  —  and  I  had  it  before  my  dinner.  They 
served  me  wine,  and  we  had  a  grand  evening's  chat 
and  smoke.  They  were  evidently  capable  and  intel- 
ligent fellows,  not  much  different  from  our  theologs, 
except  that  after  their  dinner  they  both  stood  up, 
and  each  said  by  turns  Latin  prayers,  facing  the  east. 
I  told  them  of  the  failure  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  America  in  the  slavery  matter,  and  con- 
trasted with  the  position  of  the  Church  in  the  Middle 
Ages  on  that  question,  and  made  myself  generally 
agreeable.  They  say  there  are  hardly  any  illegiti- 
mate children  in  Tyrol,  and  not  a  drunken  person  in 
the  whole  vale, —  a  great  contrast  to  Protestant  Nor- 
way. .  .  .  Off  by  six  next  day,  with  many  farewells 
(left  a  dollar  for  the  poor,  and  a  douceur  to  the  cook). 

To  Mrs.  Mill. 

KivA,  Lago  di  Garda,  Aug.  6,  1865. 

Ml/   dear   M — ;   .   .   .    You    know   what    Buckle 


278  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1865 

says  about  mountains  making  men  superstitious. 
You  see  it  here.  The  people  live  under  the  shadow 
of  death.  On  every  footpath  and  public  road  are 
innumerable  little  Mazillie,  or  memorials,  generally 
little  pictures,  painted  on  a  board,  of  peasants  who 
have  perished  by  accident.  Sometimes  the  unhappy 
individual  was  swallowed  up  in  an  avalanche,  or 
overwhelmed  by  a  landslide,  or  has  slipped  into  the 
torrent,  or  fallen  from  a  precipice,  or  was  hit  by  a 
tree  or  stone,  or  struck  by  lightning.  Below,  he  is 
represented  lifeless,  with  the  mourning  neighbors, 
while  above,  in  his  Sunday  clothes,  he  kneels  before 
the  angels  who  are  about  to  carry  him  up  to  the 
blessed  Virgin,  who  sits  sweetly  and  queenly  above, 
or  the  Saviour,  who  is  waiting  to  receive  him.  The 
passers-by  are  warned  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and 
begged  for  a  Lord's  Prayer.  One  chapel  has  a  rep- 
resentation of  the  devils  stirring  the  lost  about  in 
little  baking  irons  in  the  fiery  floor  of  hell.  I  passed 
a  great  heart,  with  arms  and  legs  protruding,  and 
a  wound  in  it,  and  the  words,  "Was  ever  pain  like 
mine  ?  "  The  people  are  the  Catholic  of  the  Catho- 
lics. They  pray  at  all  times.  The  Church  is 
the  main  interest,  the  religious  days  one-third  of 
the  year,  the  priests  idolized.  They  live  under  the 
power  of  reverence.  And  everywhere,  in  all  houses 
and  in  all  rooms,  in  public  and  private,  is  pictured 
in  all  possible  ways  that  wonderful  story  of  love,  but 
here  more  of  pain,  of  Jesus,  with  an  affection  and 
sincerity  which  defy  doubt.  Less  often  the  sweet 
face  of  the  Virgin.  Pain,  the  sorrow  and  agony  of 
the  great  Sufferer,  seems  to  have  stamped  itself  on 
the  Tyrolean  mind. 


^T.  39]  ON  LAGO   DI  GARDA  279 

This  is  the  best  country  that  exists  for  seeing  how 
the  Middle  Ages  must  have  been  before  the  priests 
were  corrupt.  The  intellect  and  reason  undeveloped, 
the  reverence,  awe,  religious  affection,  and  some- 
thing of  art,  grown  out,  and  with  all,  a  solid,  honest, 
honorable,  stanch,  industrious  people.  It  is  now 
the  living  heart  of  Catholicism. 

To  Miss  Dora  Neill. 

Turin,  Sunday,  Aug.  12, 1865. 

My  dear  Dora :  How  can  I  ever  tell  the  sublime 
visions  I  have  had  in  the  mountains,  of  the  unseen! 
The  lesson  of  the  Alps  is  worship  and  purity.  "  Oh, 
to  be  like  this  forever!  to  see  God  as  only  the  pure 
can  see!  "  have  I  often  said  on  the  great  heights,  in 
the  presence  of  the  Unapproachable  One.  From  the 
vast  peaks  above  cloud  and  earth,  one  peers  into 
Eternity  with  such  intense  desire  to  know.  Our 
individuality  sinks  away  so,  and  the  realities  seem 
goodness  and  God.  "  Oh,  make  me  thine  I  "  is  the 
cry  of  one's  heart  continually  in  the  solitary  moun- 
tains. 

The  following  description  of  a  storm  in  the  Stelvio 
Pass  was  given  in  a  lecture  delivered  after  his  re- 
turn home. 

"...  I  never  shall  forget  a  scene  at  sunset  on 
the  Stelvio  Pass,  some  two  miles  high,  where  as  a 
foot-traveller  I  was  incautiously  belated,  miles  from 
any  house.  Up  from  the  Italian  valleys  marched, 
with  threatening  rapidity,  a  phalanx  of  dark  thunder- 
clouds, crowding  one  upon  another,  filling  every  vale 
and  gorge  which  reached  down  to  the  plains  of  Lorn- 


280  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1865 

bardy,  and  giving  warning  of  their  approach  by  a 
continuous  mutter  of  artillery.  Their  light  advance 
had  already  crossed  the  ridge  on  Avhich  I  stood,  sepa- 
rating Italy  and  Germany,  and  had  filled  the  deep 
gorge  of  the  Stelvio  with  whirls  and  eddies  of  white 
mist.  The  sun  was  soon  darkened,  and  as  I  turned 
to  descend  toward  the  Tyrol  in  haste  and  anxiety,  I 
seemed  to  be  plunging  doAvn  by  the  narrow  zigzag 
of  the  road  into  a  white,  boiling  sea,  from  which 
gigantic  icebergs  were  rising, —  the  glaciers  of  the 
Alps, —  while  every  now  and  then  a  blinding  flash  of 
lightning  would  reveal  an  Arctic  vista  of  white 
snow-peaks,  and  the  thunder  reverberated  among  a 
hundred  mountains.  Perilous  and  difficult  as  was 
the  descent,  it  was  a  scene  one  would  not  for  any 
consideration  have  lost.  It  is  a  revelation  for  an 
instant  of  that  which  seldom  visits  the  mortal,  the  un- 
seen, the  infinite  and  unapproachable.  Man  shrinks 
away  before  the  gigantic  forces  of  Nature.  He  is 
purified  by  a  glimpse  of  the  Temple  of  Deity  itself." 

From  Hastings  he  writes  to  Miss  Dora  Neill :  — 

Hastings,  Sunday,  Nov.  19,  1865. 
My  dear  Dora ;  .  .  .  When  will  you  come  here  to 
share  our  joys,  and  help  us,  and  give  the  light  of 
your  sweet  presence  to  the  little  household  ?  I  fancy 
you  would  be  happy  here ;  you  are  so  near  to  both  of 
us,  and  there  is  a  growing  light  of  purity  and  peace 
in  our  family.  All  my  glowing  anticipations  were 
more  than  realized  on  my  return,  and  now  the  sober 
work  of  life  is  on  me,  and  the  consciousness  of  a 
divine  Presence  and  of  a  glorious  Unseen  settles  on 


^T.  39]     THE  POLITICAL  SITUATION  IN  1866      281 

us  all.  I  long  so  to  do  more  and  more  for  God  and 
humanity.  Tlie  mountain  spirit  seemed  to  abide 
with  me.  Then  I  never  felt  such  a  spring  of  energy 
and  inexhaustible  force,  and  the  consequence  was  I 
broke  myself  down  in  two  months.  Now  I  am  well 
again,  and  must  be  more  careful.  What  a  work  is 
there  to  do  in  the  world !  Such  misery  and  sorrow 
and  sin  and  crime!  How  one  longs  to  have  the 
power  of  an  angel  in  the  struggle !  I  feel  ready  to 
give  up  a  hundred  lives  if  I  had  them.  My  work 
goes  on  finely,  and  now  I  am  putting  hand  to  the 
sanitary  task  to  get  ready  for  the  cholera,  a  fearful 
and  Augean  toil.  I  am  also  getting  out  a  book  ^  on 
England  (sanitary,  etc.,  etc.).  My  letters,  I  find, 
have  been  read  more  than  I  expected.  I  hope  to 
publish  my  "Newsboys'  Sermons  "  this  winter. 

Mr.  Brace  had  returned  home  early  in  October, 
finding  everything  going  well  in  the  great  work, 
and  immediately  becoming  immersed  in  its  many 
absorbing  demands.  The  following  letter  gives  his 
views  on  current  political  conditions,  and  then  we 
have  two  of  general  interest,  one  revealing  his  spirit- 
ual sympathy  with  his  younger  friends,  the  other 
alluding  to  his  belief  in  Darwin  and  his  scientific 

theories. 

To  Lady  Lyell. 

11  Clinton  Hall,  New  York,  May  14,  1866. 
My  dear  Lady  Lyell :  I  hope  you  and  Sir  Charles 
recall,  with  half  the  pleasure  I  do,  our  pleasant  in- 

1  The  book  was  not  written. 


282  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1866 

tercourse  a  year  ago.  There  are  some  persons  whom 
to  meet  always  afterwards  gives  one  a  greater  cour- 
age and  hope,  as  if  there  were  more  nobleness  and 
high  purpose  in  the  world  than  one  thinks.  Will 
you  pardon  my  boldness,  if  I  say  I  always  bring  back 
from  my  interviews  with  you  and  your  sister  (whom 
I  so  regret  to  have  seen  so  little)  something  of  this 
impression. 

I  suppose  you  and  Sir  Charles  follow  our  public 
affairs  with  by  no  means  the  interest  you  did.  Our 
struggle  is  transferred  from  the  field  to  the  Senate, 
and  is  much  duller,  though  quite  as  important.  I 
think  I  know  without  asking  how  you  and  your  sis- 
ter regard  our  new  President  and  his  course.  It  was 
an  awful  blunder  of  sentiment,  putting  in  a  South- 
erner as  Vice-President,  so  that  now  we  have  Border 
State  ideas  controlling  our  policy.  The  more  we  see 
of  Mr.  Johnson,  the  less  we  like  and  respect  him. 
He  is  imbued  with  the  prejudices  of  slavery,  narrow, 
fanatical,  obstinate,  and  vulgar,  standing  on  a  theory 
which  he  will  never  abandon,  that  the  negroes  are 
perfectly  safe  with  the  South,  and  that  we  must  not 
interfere.  If  he  had  his  way,  we  should  lose  all  the 
fruit  of  this  terrible  war.  .  .  .  For  the  next  three 
years  it  is  incessant  Avar  with  the  President,  on  these 
great  principles.  He  is  obstinate,  and  the  Republi- 
can party  are  determined.  The  people  are  more  and 
more  supporting  Congress.  I  see  some  of  our  friends 
in  England  deplore  that  we  have  not  your  system 
—  the  compelling  an  administration  to  resign  when 
opposed  to  the  will  of  Parliament.  With  our  excita- 
ble and  impulsive  democracy,  such  a  parliamentary 
system  would  leave  our  affairs  liable  to  too  sudden 


iEx.  40]         LETTER  TO  MISS  SCHUYLER  283 

changes.  We  ought,  however,  to  have  a  responsible 
ministry  (as  yours)  and  a  freshly  elected  Congress. 
In  these  respects,  ours  is  a  defective  system. 


To  Miss  Cr.  Schuyler. 

Hastings,  Dec.  9,  1866. 

Ml/  dear  Miss  Cr — ;  Your  sweet  and  beautiful 
letter  of  August  8th,  from  Paris,  has  often  been  be- 
fore my  mind,  as  you  and  yours  are  so  constantly 
present  with  me  in  thought.  You  and  your  sister 
and  father  cannot  tell  how  you  are  missed  in  the 
beloved  cottage  which  you  made  so  delightful  with 
your  hospitality  and  kindness.  I  fear  your  good 
aunt  misses  the  absent  faces  more  than  I  do  even. 
You  must  remember  —  to  cheer  you  when  you  are 
thinking  of  parting  from  all  those  galleries  and 
beautiful  things  —  of  the  warm  hearts  waiting  to 
welcome  you. 

What  you  said  in  your  note  of  the  difficulty,  amid 
practical  life,  of  fixing  the  mind  on  eternal  things, 
I  can  fully  appreciate.  The  true  helps  are  a  good 
arrangement  of  duties,  and  then  much  prayer  and 
reading.  Probably  few  human  beings  ever  had  a 
more  real  sense  of  things  unseen  than  I  habitually 
have.  The  eternal  and  the  infinite  are  sometimes  so 
near  to  me  that  all  life  seems  insignificant,  and  I 
watch  the  steady  revolution  of  days  bearing  me 
toward  the  vast  mystery  as  steadily  as  we  count  the 
days  on  a  sea-voyage  before  reaching  home ;  and  yet 
there  are  certain  influences  of  a  very  petty  kind 
which  can  temporarily  close  up  the  heavens  to  me, 


284  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1866 

and  shut  me  up  in  a  very  narrow  cell,  and  can  veil 
the  face  of  the  unseen  Father.  Every  human  being 
suffers  from  this  influence  of  time  and  sense.  I  hold 
myself  so  fortunate  that  my  business  is  in  the  line 
of  all  my  best  aspirations  and  prayers  and  thoughts. 
Your  sister  must  have  felt  this  so  much  in  her  labors 
in  the  war.  One  seems  to  be  doing  God's  work,  and 
then  no  failure  can  disappoint,  for  you  labor  with  the 
Almighty  Arm  underneath,  and  you  know  that  God 
has  your  objects  far  more  in  heart  than  you  can.  I 
often  feel  this,  as  I  see  the  comparatively  slight 
effect  of  all  our  labors  on  this  host  of  poor  and  crimi- 
nal. We  are  each  on  earth  "  to  build  up  the  king- 
dom of  God,"  and  if  we  only  put  in  a  single  particle 
or  fragment  of  mortar  in  the  remotest  corner,  it 
ought  to  be  enough  for  our  hope.  You  and  Miss  L. 
will  yet  do  and  be  much,  I  believe,  in  this  silent 
building.  It  often  comes  over  me,  and  looking  at 
my  own  children  I  can  understand  it,  the  sudden 
burst  of  emotion  with  which  your  mother  (so  calm 
when  speaking  of  her  own  death)  asked  me  to  prom- 
ise to  be  in  continual  relations  with  you  both.  What 
must  have  been  her  thoughts  of  the  many  years  of 
labor  and  sacrifice  for  you,  and  then  to  think  that 
you  were  to  start  on  the  unknown  journey  without 
her  direction  or  sympath}'^  or  advice ;  and  yet,  as  I 
said  then,  you  had  already  ripened  in  character  under 
her,  and,  as  I  think  now,  you  are  never  without  her 
ennobling  presence.  Is  it  not  true,  that  if  she  were 
by  your  side,  she  could  not  any  more  inspire  you  to 
what  is  true  and  noble  and  spiritual?  Of  her  I 
always  feel  that  "the  dead  yet  live."  .  .  .  Politics 
are  in  a  fearful  condition.     We  have  broken  down 


iEx.  40]  THE  DARWINIAN  THEORY  285 

the  President,  but  the  South  are  obstinate,  and  are 
maltreating  the  freedmen  dreadfully.  Events  are 
drifting  towards  extreme  measures  on  our  part,  and 
the  South  will  find  that  they  have  made  a  grand 
mistake  in  not  accepting  the  amendments.  I 
shouldn't  be  surprised  at  territorial  governments, 
martial  laws  to  protect  the  blacks  and  force  universal 
suffrage;  though  most  of  us  prefer  an  intelligence 
suffrage. 

To  Lady  Lyell. 

11  Clinton  Hall,  New  York, 

Dec.  23,  1866. 

My  dear  Lady  Lyell :  Please  accept  my  thanks  for 
your  kind  note  of  October  last.  It  is  remarkable 
how  the  application  of  the  law  of  natural  selection  is 
influencing  now  every  department  of  scientific  inves- 
tigation. I  think  Mr.  Darwin's  name  will  go  down 
for  many  ages  with  this  great  Law  of  Hypothesis.  I 
have  been  amusing  myself  with  applying  it  to  a  the- 
ory of  the  moral  and  mental  development  of  mankind. 
I  think  it  furnishes  what  historians  and  philosophers 
have  so  long  sought  for,  a  law  of  progress,  and  Dar- 
win states  the  glorious  point  to  which  mankind  shall 
eventually  advance.  Under  this  law,  I  hold  that,  in 
a  sense,  even  religion  may  be  transmitted ;  that  is, 
the  openness  to  supernatural  inferences,  so  that  ulti- 
mately a  race  may  appear  in  which  the  highest  in- 
spiration and  capacity  of  nobleness  shall  be  embodied 
and  transmitted  and  perpetuated.  Evil  seems  to  me 
destructive  —  good  preservative.  I  should  venture 
to  think  that  the  origin  and  influence  of  Christianity 


286  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1867 

are  out  of  the  philosophical  course  of  history, —  that 
is,  supernatural, —  though  the  readiness  to  receive  it 
and  all  other  divine  influence  may  be  a  part  of  the 
regular  human  development.  But  perhaps  you  will 
hardly  care  to  follow  these  dreamy  speculations. 
We  are  all  so  glad  to  hear  of  a  new  edition  of  Sir 
Charles's  "Principles."  .  .  .  You  know  my  opinion, 
that  the  whole  science  of  the  age  has  been  modified 
by  Sir  Charles's  method. 

One  night  in  January,  1867,  Mr.  Brace,  while 
visiting  among  the  poor,  took  cold,  which  soon  devel- 
oped into  typhoid  fever.  A  long  illness  followed,  a 
season  of  intense  anxiety  to  his  friends,  and  to  the 
devoted  employees  of  the  society.  After  three 
months  of  illness,  it  was  felt  by  Mr.  Brace  himself, 
as  well  as  by  his  physicians,  that  a  return  to  work 
was  not  to  be  thought  of  until  his  constitution  had 
completely  recovered  its  old  vitality.  He  decided 
upon  the  long  sea  trip  to  California  by  the  Isthmus 
as  the  best  possible  medicine,  and  we  find  him  plan- 
ning, even  in  this  time  of  physical  weakness  and 
convalescence,  to  take  letters  which  shall  introduce 
him  to  the  best  men  and  the  characteristic  features 
of  California.  In  May,  he  and  Mrs.  Brace  set  out 
upon  their  travels,  and  his  enjoyment  of  the  beauty 
of  the  sea  trip  knew  no  bounds.  He  speaks,  in  his 
book  on  California,  "The  New  West,"  of  the  sparkle 
of  spring  sunlight  on  the  water,  the  air  genial,  but 


JEt.  40]  VISIT   TO   CALIFORNIA  287 

bracing,  the  blue  waves  of  the  Caribbean,  and  "  the 
long  voyage  varied  by  a  raiboad  ride  through  a  tropi- 
cal conservatory." 

They  Avent  direct  to  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Brace,  whose 
home  was  in  an  exquisite  valley  about  twenty  miles 
from  San  Francisco,  and  there  he  gained  every  day 
new  health  and  energy.  Everything  filled  him  with 
delight, —  the  wild  Italian-like  ravine,  with  its  fan- 
tastically shaped  evergreen  oaks,  the  great  reaches  of 
grain-fields,  the  gorgeous  wild-flowers.  He  breathed 
the  atmosphere  with  rapture,  and  called  it  as  near 
perfection  as  man  can  attain.  He  says :  "  The  whole 
region,  and  all  its  phenomena,  seem  to  me  more 
different  from  those  of  the  Eastern  coast  than  Europe 
is  from  the  Atlantic  States.  I  am  constantly  won- 
dering that  people  sjDeak  English.  It  seems  to  me 
that  if  a  student  of  nature  from  our  coast  were  sud- 
denly put  down  blindfold  in  any  portion  of  Cali- 
fornia, in  the  deepest  forest,  on  the  mountain-top,  or 
with  only  a  few  feet  of  horizon,  he  would  know  in 
an  instant  that  he  was  not  on  the  Atlantic  slope  or 
in  Europe.     It  is  'the  new  West.'  "^ 

Immediately  social  conditions  and  their  problems 
begin  to  interest  him,  and  he  studies  the  mint  statis- 
tics, eight-hour  law,  schools,  social  life,  etc.,  until 
the  crowning  experience  comes  in  a  grand  trip  to  the 
Yosemite  to  which  he  and  Mrs.  Brace  are  generously 
1"  The  New  West,"  p.  35. 


288  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1867 

invited  by  their  brother,  Mr.  Sherwood.  He  says 
that  to  him,  just  recovering  from  a  tedious  fever, 
the  atmosphere  of  the  great  canon  seemed  the 
ver}^  elixir  of  life, —  cool,  clear,  stimulating, —  while 
the  grandeur  of  the  scenes,  the  wonders  of  color  in 
the  rock,  the  snowy  Sierras  in  the  distance,  and  the 
peaceful  greensward  with  gay  wild-flowers  below 
them,  are  stamped  on  his  memory,  to  remain  forever. 

His  last  trip  was  to  Virginia  City,  which  struck 
his  imagination  much  with  its  strange  incongruities. 
"  The  town  is  cut  off  from  the  pleasures,  the  art,  and 
the  civilization  of  the  outside  world.  It  makes  up 
for  it  with  the  excitements  of  the  stock  market.  All 
day  long  the  streets  boil  over  with  stock  speculation. 
It  is  a  most  striking  contrast;  above,  the  clear  blue 
sky  like  that  of  the  high  Alps,  with  its  infinite 
depths;  in  a  few  steps,  the  loneliness  of  a  desert; 
around,  the  vast  solitudes  and  mighty  snow-peaks  of 
the  Sierras ;  and  below,  men  rushing  to  and  fro  with 
wild  excitement  to  speculate  by  telegraph  in  the 
mining  market  of  San  Francisco.  It  is  like  the 
sudden  transference  of  the  William  Street  gold-room 
to  the  top  of  Mount  Righi."  ^ 

While  health  was  coming  back  to   him,  he   and 

Mrs.  Brace  were  overtaken  by  a  terrible  sorrow  in 

the  death  of  the  sister.  Miss  Mary  Anne  Neill,  who 

was   faithfully    caring   for   their   children    in   their 

1  "The  New  West,"  p.  189, 


JEt.  41]  DEATH   OF  MISS  NEILL  289 

absence.  She  was  infinitely  dear  to  them  both,  and 
the  fear  that  death  had  come  in  their  service  made 
it  a  doubly  cruel  blow.  His  wife  started  for  New 
York  at  once,  leaving  Mr.  Brace  to  finish  his  pre- 
scribed rest  cure  alone.  The  next  letters  show  in 
how  high  affection  and  regard  he  held  Miss  Neill:  — 

To  Miss  Dora  Neill. 

July,  1867. 
Ml/  dear  Bora :  ...  I  recall  all  her  last  words 
and  looks,  and  I  know  she  is  not  sorry  to  die.  "  To 
live  so  that  in  dying  one  does  not  cease  to  be  loved," 
is  the  great  problem  which  she  has  solved.  Look 
up  to  Christ  and  accept  this  consolation :  she  is  with 
God;  she  calls  us  to  her  heights.  May  He  cleanse 
us  and  purify  us  by  this  great  sorrow,  to  be  more 
worthy  of  Him,  to  meet  her.  .  .  .  We  vainly  imag- 
ine all  that  we  cannot  hear;  and  then  we  turn  to  the 
glorified  form  above,  and  the  eternal  peace  in  which 
she  moves.  May  God  bless  you  and  console  you 
ever.  Yesterday  H.  's  telegram  came  like  a  thunder- 
bolt on  us,  and  plunged  us  in  the  deep  waters  of 
sorrow.  I  have  felt  lately  that  our  lives  had  been 
too  happy,  and  that  some  great  blow  must  come, 
though  I  never  thought  of  its  being  dealt  there, — 
that  she,  the  best  and  most  unselfish  of  us  all,  should 
be  called  first.  But  she  is  with  God;  far  happier 
than  ever  she  could  be  here.  Every  longing  of  that 
restless  heart  satisfied,  and  at  last  in  peace.  But 
we  —  we  are  losers  through  life. 


290  CHARLES  LORIXG   BRACE  [1867 

To  Miss  Cr.  Schuyler. 

San  Francisco,  July  19,  1867. 
Mr/  dear  Friend :  You  could  hardly  have  expected 
that  my  first  reply  to  the  kind  notes  from  Rome 
which  cheered  my  sick  hours  would  be  from  this 
distant  point.  I  told  you  to  expect  a  warm  welcome 
from  your  friends  on  the  Hudson,  and  I  want  mine 
to  meet  you  early  after  your  return.  To  me,  the 
beautiful  river  will  have  a  brighter  aspect,  as  I  think 
of  the  dear  cottage  filled  again  with  the  old  friends. 
You  know  this  has  been  a  year  of  calamities  to  me. 
To-day  I  bade  good-by  to  Mrs.  Brace,  and  our  jour- 
ney was  brought  to  a  gloomy  turn  by  the  terrible 
news  from  Hastings.  We  do  not  grieve  for  her  who 
is  gone  so  much.  She  always  lived  in  the  light  of 
the  Unseen,  and  in  the  service  of  love.  Her  life 
cannot  now  be  essentially  different  from  what  it  was 
here,  except  as  it  is  more  peaceful  and  harmonious 
and  satisfied.  But  the  loss  of  this  life  to  her  sisters 
and  brothers  and  us  all  is  immense,  as  she  bore  the 
burdens  of  so  many,  and  took  so  many  on  her  heart. 
She  was  like  a  mother  to  my  wife,  and  no  one  can 
ever  love  her  so  much.  To  me,  she  was  one  of  the 
beloved  few  who  help  me  continually  to  a  higher 
life,  and  who  always  had  sympathy  for  me.  I  can 
never  replace  her  loss.  As  I  think  of  the  dark 
waters  I  have  passed  through  this  year,  and  the 
views  given  me  of  the  depths  unseen,  I  often  wonder 
what  fruit  God  shall  bring  forth  from  these  trials. 
You  encourage  me  by  your  kind  sympathy  to  talk 
freely  of  these  matters,  and  I  will  say  that  thus  far 


^T.  41]  SLOW   RECOVERY  291 

it  has  given  me  a  solemn  awe,  as  of  one  to  whom  the 
veil  of  air  was  removed  for  a  few  moments,  and  a 
glimpse  granted  of  the  eternal  realities,  and  then 
such  a  sense  and  desire  of  consecration  to  God's 
work  in  humanity  fill  my  soul  as  cannot  be  described, 
so  that  all  earthly  interests  pass  away  in  comparison, 
and  the  thought  of  God  fills  earth  and  heaven  with 
its  light  and  glory,  and  I  am  really  thankful  for  my 
losses  and  disappointments  and  griefs.  I  only  dread 
and  fear  sometimes  lest  something  of  my  abounding 
courage  and  hope  should  be  lamed  by  all  this,  but  I 
think  not,  for  I  have  learned  more  of  the  "  God  of 
Hope "  and  of  the  glory  which  shines  from  our 
magnificent  future.  You  will  be  glad  to  know  that, 
physically,  I  am  getting  stronger  every  day,  yet  the 
typhoid  is  the  very  devil  to  get  into  one.  I  have 
said  so  much  of  myself  that  I  have  left  no  space  to 
speak  of  my  most  interesting  journey.  I  have  sel- 
dom had  so  instructive  and  valuable  a  tour,  but  of 
that  when  we  meet  at  the  cottage  in  Hastings.  I 
trust  yours  are  all  well  and  happy. 

To  his  Wife. 

San  Francisco,  Aug.  28,  1867. 
Dearest  Wife ;  .  .  .  I  hope  the  children  are  well 
and  good  and  happy.  May  God's  peace  rest  upon 
you  all  forever.  I  feel  as  if  I  was  going  back  to  a 
house  where  the  dead  sit  by  the  table  and  listen  to 
our  prayers,  and  give  a  solemn  joy  and  the  peace  of 
eternity  to  all  things.  Happil}',  we  have  lived  to 
a  degree  in  the  presence  of  things  unseen. 


292  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1867 

In  October,  1867,  Mr.  Brace  returned  to  his  home, 
and  was  greeted  by  the  news  of  the  death  of  his 
uncle,  Mr.  Charles  Loring,  to  whom  he  was  deeply 
attached.      To   Mrs.    Asa   Gray  he   writes   of   this 

loss :  — 

To  Mrs.  Asa  Gray. 

Hastings,  Oct.  12,  1867. 
My  dear  Cousin :  I  cannot  tell  you  what  a  shock 
it  gave  me  on  my  arrival  to  hear  of  the  death  of  dear 
Uncle  Charles.  Had  I  reached  here  earlier,  or  had 
your  letter  come  sooner,  I  might  have  been  in  time 
to  be  present  at  the  funeral.  You  knew,  however, 
that  both  Letitia  and  I  were  there  in  our  sympathy. 
Your  father's  death  seems  to  me  like  the  fall  of  a 
great  column,  on  which  rested  a  wide  circle  of  inter- 
ests. Ever  since  I  can  remember,  he  has  been  the 
example  to  us  all  of  consideration,  courtesy,  and 
self-sacrifice.  He  has  heaped  kindnesses  on  us,  and 
his  home  and  its  hospitality  were  one  of  the  greatest 
pleasures  of  my  boyhood  and  manhood.  God  grant 
that  the  death  of  any  of  us  may  leave  as  broad  a  track 
of  light  over  the  stormy  sea  of  life  as  his  does ! 

The  letter  expresses  his  reverence  and  affection  for 
Mr.  Loring,  and  his  gratitude  for  his  unfailing  hos- 
pitality. His  holidays  were  often  spent  at  Beverly, 
where  his  uncle's  beautiful  home  always  had  room 
for  the  boy  Charles.  With  his  cousins  he  fished  and 
sailed  and  swam,  finding  his  uncle  strict  in  only  one 
matter,  that  of  regularity  at  meals.  He  used  often 
to  tell  a  story  of  his  struggles  to  regard  Mr.  Loring's 


JEt.  41]     PROGRESS  OF  THE  SOCIETY'S  WORK      293 

wishes  in  this  matter.  One  clay  the  boy  was  sailing, 
and  the  wind  died  down.  Dinner-hour  was  coming. 
What  could  he  do  ?  The  only  way  was  to  swim ;  so 
swim  he  did,  carrying  his  watch  in  his  mouth,  and 
his  clothes  above  his  head  in  one  hand.  Needless  to 
say,  the  uncle  fully  appreciated  the  effort. 

The  steady  progress  of  the  work  of  the  Children's 
Aid  Society  continued  to  encourage  all  engaged  in 
those  labors,  and  as  the  years  go  by,  the  good  results 
of  its  work  become  more  and  more  apparent,  in  the 
improved  look  of  the  children  in  the  industrial 
schools,  the  story  of  a  lodging-house  and  its  hun- 
dreds of  boys  fed  and  taught,  the  grateful  letters 
from  boys  placed  in  homes,  "snatched  years  before 
from  starvation  and  consequent  crime."  From  the 
nucleus  of  boys'  meetings,  the  different  branches 
of  the  society  —  workshops,  free  reading-rooms,  in- 
dustrial schools,  and  lodging-houses  —  have  all  ex- 
panded, with  one  aim  ever  in  view, —  the  growth  of 
the  soul,  the  character,  the  mind.  In  one  of  his 
reports  Mr.  Brace  sums  up  the  good  accomplished  as 
follows : — 

"The  great  truths  of  religion  were  applied  to 
the  conscience ;  then  habits  of  industry  given  in  the 
workshops ;  social  influences  for  good  were  used  in 
the  reading-rooms ;  punctuality,  order,  steady  labor, 
and  moral  habits  taught  in  the  schools ;  and  through 
the  comforts  of  the  lodging-houses,  nominally  paid 


294  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1868 

for  and  not  received  as  alms,  the  outcasts  of  society- 
were  brought  under  innumerable  moral  and  Christian 
influences.  A  moral  basis  like  this  in  a  charity- 
insures  it  success  and  permanency.  It  does  not 
merely  confer  alms :  it  builds  up  character;  it  soon 
renders  its  subjects  superior  to  the  aid  it  gives.  It 
relieves  society  best  of  all,  by  preventing  the  growth 
of  a  future  dependent  class ;  and  it  checks  crime  by 
choking  its  seed  with  good  influences." 

Several  new  lodging-houses,  on  a  smaller  scale 
than  the  first,  were  founded  during  this  and  the 
preceding  two  or  three  years,  making  six  in  opera- 
tion in  1868,  but  still  the  first  one  was  not  large 
enough  for  its  purposes,  and  during  the  winters  of 
1868-69,  we  find  Mr.  Brace  soliciting  funds  with 
which  to  secure  a  permanent  building  for  the  news- 
boys' lodging-house.  He  says  that  a  fund  of  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  to  twenty  thousand  dollars  would 
enable  them  to  purchase  a  house,  and  after  that  the 
institution  would  be  nearl}^,  if  not  quite,  self-sup- 
porting, a  lasting  blessing  for  the  poor  children  of 
the  quarter.  The  society  was  not  successful  in 
raising  money  during  this  winter,  but  a  great  ad- 
vance was  made  towards  this  aim  during  the-  follow- 
ing year.  The  friends  of  the  society  contributed 
thirty  thousand  dollars  toward  a  fund  for  the  erection 
of  a  newsboys'  lodging-house.  The  legislature  was 
persuaded  to  appropriate  a  like  sum  out  of  the  Excise 


Mt.421     first  LODGING-HOUSE  ERECTED  295 

Fund,  the  request  being  justified  by  the  claim  that 
the  lodsiuCT-house  was  needed  often  for  the  children 
of  the  families  ruined  by  the  sale  of  drink.  The 
whole  amount,  invested  in  good  securities,  had 
reached,  in  1872,  the  sum  of  eighty  thousand  dollars, 
and  the  lodging-house  was  erected  at  the  corner  of 
Duane  and  New  Chambers  Street,  where  it  has  sus- 
tained its  first  popularity  to  this  day.  Mr.  Brace 
says  that  in  the  course  of  a  year  the  population  of  a 
town  passes  through  the  lodging-house  —  in  1869 
and  1870,  eight  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  inmates  lodged  there.  "  Many  are  put  in  homes ; 
some  find  places  for  themselves ;  others  drift  away, 
no  one  knows  whither.  .  .  .  The  lodging-house  is 
at  once  school,  church,  intelligence-ofiice,  and  hotel 
for  them.  Here  they  are  shaped  to  be  honest  and 
industrious  citizens;  here  taught  economy,  good 
order,  cleanliness,  and  morality;  here  religion  brings 
its  powerful  influences  to  bear  upon  them,"^  The 
interest  of  the  trustees,  and  especially  of  the  presi- 
dent, in  these  lodging-houses  did  not  flag,  and  every 
alternate  Sunday  evening  Mr.  Booth  and  others  of 
the  busy  men  of  New  York  were  to  be  found,  con- 
ducting the  simple  religious  services  at  one  or  other 
of  the  lodging-houses.  In  a  much  later  report,  Mr. 
Brace  says  in  the  same  connection :  "  How  any  youth 
can  grow  up  to  manhood  enjoying  all  the  blessings 
1  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  p.  106. 


296  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1869 

of  life  in  such  a  city  as  this,  crowded  with  misfortune 
.and  cursed  by  crime,  and  not  feel  it  his  solemn  duty 
to  do  his  best  to  lessen  these  evils,  is  something  in- 
comprehensible. " 

Some  time  during  this  year  Mr.  Brace  wrote  the 
following  letter :  — 

To  Henry  Ward  JBeecher. 

Hastings  on  Hudson,  Sunday  [1869]. 
My  dear  Cousin :  My  duties  are  so  engrossing  that 
I  have  little  time  to  come  over  and  see  you,  but  I  do 
extremely  want  to  say  a  few  words  about  your  great 
plan  (spoken  of)  of  writing  a  "Life  of  Christ."  I 
cannot  but  think  it  may  be  the  great  intellectual 
work  of  your  life,  the  one  to  make  you  known  to 
future  times.  I  do  hope  and  trust  —  if  you  will  let 
me  be  so  frank  —  that  you  will  not  hurry  it  out,  even 
if  forty  publishers  are  after  it.  There  are  certain 
delicate  questions  which  you,  above  all,  are  compe- 
tent to  treat  of,  as  commanding  supreme  love  of  truth, 
and  also  a  spiritual  nature.  As  one  of  those  who 
love  a  id  honor  you,  I  do  hope  you  will  take  suffi- 
cient time  to  thoroughly  discuss  them.  May  I  briefly 
note  some  of  these  points,  as  well  as  some  other 
matters,  for  your  consideration?  I  wish  you  had 
been  in  Palestine.  It  must  require  great  genius  to 
thoroughly  interpret  Christ's  language,  without  an 
intimate  acquaintance  with  Oriental  life  and  scenery. 
Then  could  you  not  faniiliaiize  yourself  with  the  Old 
Testament  figures  and  conceptions  which  must  have 
given  the  groundwork  to  His  phraseology  and  para- 


iEx.  42]       BEECHER'S  "LIFE  OF   CHRIST"  297 

bles?  Your  moral  nature  will  give  you  power  in 
comprehending  Christ.  (You  see  I  am  writing  most 
frankly.) 

Now  for  the  knotty  points. 

(1)  The  narrative,  though  full  for  a  few  years  as 
compared  with  history,  is  a  most  imperfect  one ;  and 
to  my  mind,  there  are  evident  blurrings  or  misconcep- 
tions in  it.  Take,  for  instance,  the  barren  fig-tree, 
and  such  plirases  as  "I  did  it  for  their  sakes,"  i.e. 
prayed,  for  effect  on  others,  and  many  small  matters 
of  this  kind.  May  not  the  birth  from  a  virgin  be  an 
addition  by  the  wonder-lovers? 

(2)  The  matter  about  which  I  once  spoke  to  you, 
—  that  is,  that  you  and  I  and  this  age  have  drifted 
by  Christ's  conception  of  sudden  danger  and  sudden 
change  to  character.  The  idea  of  this  age  is  of  slow 
growth,  especially  of  all  moral  things.  We  doubt 
sudden  changes,  or,  at  all  events,  we  consider  them 
only  feeble  beginnings  of  long-working  changes. 
We  do  not  stand  before  the  great  masses  of  the  edu- 
cated classes  and  exhort  them  to  a  sudden  conver- 
sion, because  on  one  side  is  an  awful  hell,  and  the 
other  a  heaven.  Our  hell  is  character,  which  grows 
like  coral  reefs,  an  inch  through  a  million  years. 
We  labor  for  its  changes,  but  we  know  that  it  is 
influenced  by  ten  thousand  imperceptible  causes, 
and  its  salvation  is  the  slowest  of  all  things.  We 
are  more  concerned  to  save  from  selfishness  than  from 
damnation.  We  may  admit  eternity  of  effects  (pun- 
ishment), but  present  moral  seed  and  its  gradual 
growth  is  what  we  most  care  for.  Has  not  our  stand- 
point changed?     Is  the  age  of  Christ  right? 


298  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1869 

(3)  Did  not  Christ  share  the  superstition  (or 
appear  to  share)  of  His  age  about  diabolical  posses- 
sion? 

(4)  Did  He  aim  a  blow  at  property  and  modern 
development  of  wealth  in  His  well-known  words 
about  riches,  etc.  ?  (By  the  way,  how  wonderful  is 
it  in  a  Jewish  peasant,  seeing  the  great  sin  of  a 
commercial  age, —  the  greed  for  accumulation.) 

(5)  Are  not  His  words  on  marriage  and  divorce 
absolute  ? 

(6)  Have  we  any  evidence  of  His  intention  to 
found  a  society  or  club  or  church,  or  of  any  ceremo- 
nials or  rites  ?  Is  not  the  Supper  temporary  and  per- 
sonal, and  the  baptism  Jewish  ?  Are  they  any  more 
solemnly  established  than  washing  of  feet? 

(7)  Can  we  distinguish  absolutely  between  the 
real  features  of  this  Being  and  the  art  strokes  of  re- 
storers or  admirers,  or  the  blurs  of  time  ? 

(8)  Can  we  not  prove  Christ  an  abnormal  growth 
—  that  is,  not  a  product  of  historical  causes  —  and 
thus  upset  modern  scepticism?  Or  shall  we  show 
God  working  through  history  to  make,  in  the  fulness 
of  time,  the  perfect  man  ? 

(9)  Under  any  of  our  conceptions  of  Christ,  one 
must  admit  profound  mysteries  and  contradictions. 
Yours  of  a  "  God  in  a  body  without  a  human  soul " 
is  full  of  difficulties;  mine  of  "God  manifest  in  a 
soul  "  has  innumerable  contradictions.  The  Trinita- 
rian is  worse  than  either.  The  ultra-Unitarian  of 
Christ  as  a  reformer,  etc.,  does  not  cover  the  lan- 
guage or  explain  the  facts.  Even  Renan  draws  an 
impossible  human  mixture. 


iEx.  43]  THE  WINTER  OF  1869-70  2^9 

(10)  The  Lord's  Prayer  has  never  seemed  to  me 
so  perfect  as  mankind  consider  it.  I  do  not  like 
the  "trespasses,"  for  it  measures  God's  forgiveness, 
and  "lead  into  temptation"  implies  that  He  tempts, 
and  there  is  no  personal  aspiration  for  holiness  in  it. 

(11)  How  much  of  those  wonderful  last  words  of 
Christ's  belong  to  Alexandrian  and  Platonic  concep- 
tions? They  seem  to  me  most  divine.  You  remem- 
ber the  German  objection  that  they  are  too  different 
from  the  words  in  the  other  accounts  to  have  been 
spoken  by  the  same  person. 

(12)  The  great  stumbling-block  to  modern  science 
are  the  Miracles.     Not  so  much  to  my  mind. 

Do  not  answer  all  this,  but  keep  it  for  considera- 
tion, as  vague  objections,  in  your  great  book. 

The  following  short  letter  to  a  friend  reveals  to 
us  his  occupations  and  interests  in  this  winter  of 
1869-70:  — 

19  East  4th  St.,  Jan.  28,  1870. 

My  dear  M ;  ...   If  I  should  live  a  thousand 

years,  and  away  from  you,  your  memory  would  be 
green  in  my  heart.  You  have  ploughed  too  deep  a 
furrow  in  my  life  to  make  it  otherwise.  I  can  truly 
say  that  not  an  hour  passes,  when  I  am  alone,  ia 
which  I  do  not  think  of  you,  and  with  such  respect, 
admiration,  and  affection,  as  I  should  like  to  have 
you  see  in  my  heart.  ...  I  believe  we  are  to  have 
one  of  those  tough  friendships  and  affections  which 
will  last  till  all  earthly  fire  and  light  have  gone  from 
us,  and  which  will  hold  out  in  new  lives  beyond. 
.  .  .     We  are  having  spring  all  winter;  thermometer 


800  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1870 

between  50°  and  60°  in  shade,  dry,  sunny,  glorious ; 
no  snow  or  ice ;  river  open.  I  am  writing  busily  for 
papers,  arguing  much  for  low  tariff,  etc.,  and  driv- 
ing Children's  Aid.  I  am  deep  in  the  Stoics,  and 
reading  Marcus  Aurelius  with  great  interest.  We 
need  a  spice  of  backbone  of  stoicism  in  all  of  us. 
Marcus  says:  "We  ought  to  take  the  posture  of 
wrestlers  rather  than  dancers  in  life,  so  as  to  be 
ready  for  any  sudden  and  unexpected  onset."  I  am 
much  too  easily  upset  by  a  sudden  blow.  You  are 
stiffer.  Then  pure  morality  does  not  move  us  as  it 
ought.  Does  love  for  God  ever  shut  out  the  view  of 
pure  truth  and  justice  and  disinterestedness?  .  .  . 
I  am  still  reading  up  everywhere  on  Darwinian 
matters. 

The  study  of  Darwin  had  greatly  interested  Mr. 
Brace  for  some  years,  and  at  about  this  time  he  pub- 
lished a  little  on  the  subject.  One  of  his  greatest 
recreations  was  to  read  and  read  again  "  The  Origin 
of  Species,"  and  we  find,  some  years  later,  an  allu- 
sion in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  fact  that  he  is  read- 
ing it  for  the  thirteenth  time.  It  may  interest  his 
readers  to  see  a  few  words  of  his  on  evolution, 
the  first  extract  contributed  to  the  "  North  American 
Review,"  the  second  to  the  "Christian  Union." 

" .  .  .  In  attempting  to  conceive  the  divine  plans 
of  the  great  Architect,  we  are  of  course  in  a  region 
where  human  faculties  reach  but  little  way;  yet  it 
seems  a  possible  conception  of  an  infinite  Creator, 


^T.  43]  EVOLUTION  UPWARD  301 

that  He  should  be  able  to  arrange  forces  on  a  gen- 
eral plan,  whose  particular  results  He  should  clearly 
foresee;  even  knowing  the  future  failures  and  half- 
effects  of  these  'laws  '  which  He  sustains,  while  the 
great  object  of  progress  and  completeness  is  being 
steadily  worked  out. 

"  How  any  one  could  regard  the  Darwinian  concep- 
tion of  the  Creator  as  an  inferior  one,  we  cannot  un- 
derstand. To  our  mind,  the  vast,  manifold,  almost 
infinite  intertwining  of  causes,  which  under  that 
theory  should  produce  the  most  simple  effects ;  the 
astonishing  and  incredible  complication  and  inter- 
dependence of  the  kingdoms  of  life  which  Darwin 
has  attempted  to  illustrate ;  the  thought  that  the 
destruction  of  a  single  thread  in  the  infinite  network 
of  forces  would  desolate  the  earth  of  beautiful  forms 
of  life,  or  would  over-people  it  with  hideous;  that 
each  little  violet,  for  instance,  Avhich  gladdens  our 
eye  on  a  country  walk  has  depended  for  its  existence 
on  a  balancing  and  interworking  of  innumerable 
forms  of  life  during  'ages  of  ages,'  and  is  the  result 
of  laws  old  as  creation ;  and  that  there  is  at  the  cen- 
tre One  holding  the  tangled  threads  of  this  vast  net- 
work of  causes,  or  rather,  that  the  power  which  is 
continually  weaving  on  this  immense  '  loom  of  life  ' 
is  One, —  to  us  such  a  scientific  conception  has  in  it 
something  corresponding  to  our  highest  moral  intui- 
tion of  Him  the  'All-controlling.' 

Wer  darf  Ihn  nennen  ?  .     .     . 

Der  Alldmfassek  ! 

Der  Allerhalter  !  " 

".  .  .  To  the  Darwinian  also,  there  is  no  drift 
toward  the  worse  —  no  tendency  to  degeneracy  and 


302  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1870 

imperfection.  The  current  of  all  created  things,  or 
of  all  phenomena,  is  towards  higher  forms  of  life. 
Natural  selection  is  a  means  of  arriving  at  the 
best. 

"...  Nature  moves  physically  towards  perfec- 
tion, and  morally  there  must  be  the  same  unseen  but 
necessary  motion.  For  if  the  Darwinian  theory  be 
true,  the  law  of  natural  selection  applies  to  all  the 
moral  history  of  mankind,  as  well  as  to  the  physical. 
Evil  must  die  ultimately  as  the  weaker  element,  in 
the  struggle  with  good.  The  slow  consent  of  the 
world's  history  is  in  the  direction  of  moral  good- 
ness, as  its  physical  development  is  ever  toward 
higher  forms.  This  progress,  of  course,  does  not 
necessarily  embrace  any  particular  form  of  life  or 
especial  race.  A  given  race  may  die,  or  may  remain 
stagnant.  The  development  goes  on  with  some  new 
variety  or  form  of  life. 

"Such  a 'current  of  things  towards  righteousness,' 
or  towards  physical  perfection,  is  slow,  almost  imper- 
ceptible. It  is  like  the  silent  motion  of  the  stars  of 
heaven  through  eternity  towards  one  centre  of  the 
universe.  But  if  once  the  theory  of  development  be 
accepted  and  this  fact  be  admitted,  what  higher  evi- 
dence can  be  demanded  of  a  benevolent  and  perfect 
Creator,  than  a  current  of  all  things  towards  the 
best,  a  drift  toward  perfection,  a  silent,  august, 
secular  movement  of  all  beings  and  forms  of  life,  all 
thought  and  morals,  all  history  and  events  towards 
the  completely  good  and  perfect?  This,  indeed, 
does  not  solve  all  difficulties,  but  it  would  go  far  to 
answer  Mr.  Mill's  objections  to  natural  theology, 
and  adding  the  hypothesis  of  immortal  life,  it  would 


^T.  43]  YALE  AND  HARVARD  303 

solve   all   the   most   difficult  portions  of  the  great 
problem." 

In  the  same  line  of  thought,  he  writes  to  Mr. 
Kingsbury :  — 

"...  The  sceptical  make  a  good  deal  of  the  little 
Christianity  has  done.  But,  taking  analogy  in  the 
natural  world,  we  expect  immense  time  for  small 
changes.  I  look  rather  at  its  tendencies^  what  it 
seems  capable  of  doing,  and  what  it  has  begun  to 
do,  and  I  think  I  see  clearly  what,  a  thousand  ceons 
hence,  it  will  do.  I  don't  think  Christianity  teaches 
any  new  moral  principles.  Stoicism  and  Buddhism 
both  teach  brotherhood  and  the  love-principles. 
But  it  embodied  the  highest,  and  taught  in  a  life, 
in  a  person.  The  Stoics  were  generally  poor  sticks, 
and  only  Buddha  is  remarkable  for  character.  But 
Christ  is  pre-eminent,  and  stands  higher  under  each 
new  religion  or  old  investigated. 

"  But  our  'rocks  '  are  further  back  than  that.  I  am 
here,i  where  we  (Dr.  Gray  and  I)  generally  have 
incessant  disputations  and  talks  on  Darwinism.  If 
the  soul  is  a  growth  from  animal  faculties  and  in- 
stincts, the  probability  is  less  for  immortality.  Or 
if  the  whole  universe  is  an  evolution  under  chance 
and  natural  selection  from  a  few  atoms  in  a  cosmic 
vapor,  the  necessity  of  a  God  is  less.  Yet  to  me 
Darwinism  is  not  inconsistent  with  Theism.  .  .  . 
All  are  well  here.  .  .  .  The  college  becoming 
university,  and  everything  moving  twenty  miles  an 
hour  faster  than  Yale." 

1  In  Cambridge. 


304  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1871 

During  the  winter  of  1871  the  society  made  a 
strong  effort  to  effect  a  reform  in  New  York  in  the 
laws  bearing  upon  the  employment  of  children  of 
tender  age  in  factories.  The  night  schools  of  the 
society,  at  that  time  eleven  in  number,  brought  Mr. 
Brace  and  the  teachers  in  contact  with  an  immense 
number  of  children  who  were  at  work  from  eight  to 
ten  hours  a  day.  In  making  a  survey  of  the  matter, 
Mr.  Brace  discovered  that  there  were  in  New  York, 
Brooklyn,  and  their  neighborhood,  from  fifteen  hun- 
dred to  two  thousand  children  employed  in  one  in- 
dustry alone, —  the  manufacture  of  paper  collars, — 
while  the  agents  of  the  society  found  children  only 
four  years  of  age  in  tobacco  factories.  The  New 
England  States  had  already  passed  the  most  stringent 
acts  for  this  reform,  manufacturers  in  Connecticut 
saying :  "  We  do  not  dare  t&  permit  the  children  with- 
in and  around  our  mills  to  grow  up  without  some 
education.  Better  for  us  to  pay  the  school  expenses 
ourselves,  than  have  the  children  in  ignorance." 

Mr.  C.  E.  Whitehead,  counsel  and  trustee  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  drew  up  a  law  for  the  pro- 
tection of  factory  children,  and  Mr.  Brace  went  for 
some  years  to  Albany  during  every  spring  session 
to  try  to  push  through  this  and  other  legislation  for 
the  society.  For  two  years  it  failed,  through  the 
manoeuvres  of  two  or  three  members,  while  the  inter- 
ests of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  children  in  the 


iEx.  4i]    GIRLS'  LODGIXG-IIOUSE  REMOVAL  305 

city  and  its  suburbs  were  involved  in  its  fate ;  but 
in  1874  an  act  passed  the  legislature,  not  so  judi- 
cious in  form  as  his  own  bill,  Mr.  Brace  considered, 
but  still  a  great  step.  The  whole  duty  of  checking 
vagrancy  and  securing  education  to  factory  children 
was  thrown  upon  the  Board  of  Education  and  school 
trustees  throughout  the  State.  The  society  at  once 
opened  an  increased  number  of  night  schools  in  view 
of  the  possible  effects  of  the  law. 

The  Girls'  Lodging-house  continued  its  work  of 
inestimable  good  to  many  poor  and  unhappy  young 
women,  and  in  1870  had  instituted  a  new  branch  of 
usefulness  in  the  "sewing-machine  school."  Cer- 
tain of  the  sewing-machine  companies  generously 
gave  or  loaned  machines,  and  the  girls  seized  with 
eagerness  this  opportunity  of  training  for  their 
future  self-support,  coming  in  numbers  (seventy- 
eight  in  one  day)  from  all  parts  of  the  city  and 
suburbs.  Of  course  all  did  not  become  good  oper- 
ators, but  eleven  hundred  girls  were  taught  during 
the  first  year,  and  of  these  many  must  have  gone 
forth  better  equipped  for  the  difficult  battle  of  life. 
During  the  winter  the  lodging-house  was  moved  to 
large  and  commodious  quarters  in  St.  Mark's  Place, 
where  the  machine-room  was  better  adapted  to  its 
purpose,  and  there  were  accommodations  for  the  large 
laundry,  where  work  for  outsiders  was  successfully 
undertaken. 


306  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1871 

At  the  lodging-house  in  Rivington  Street  a  new 
and  beautiful  feature  was  added  during  this  winter. 
The  superintendent,  Mr.  Calder,  had  already  shown 
taste  and  skill  in  making  the  house  attractive  to  the 
children,  and  had  a  little  greenhouse  of  his  own. 
This  year,  the  gentlemen  interested  in  the  lodging- 
house  assumed  the  expense  necessary  to  build  a  small 
greenhouse  opening  out  of  the  audience  and  school- 
room, thus  giving  the  school-children  during  the  day, 
and  the  boy  lodgers  who  came  for  the  night,  the  in- 
fluence of  flowers  always  before  them.  The  little 
conservatory  was  an  immense  interest  to  the  chil- 
dren, giving  them  a  taste  of  the  country  in  the  midst 
of  this  dingy  part  of  the  city,  and  its  influence  was 
extended  by  the  gifts  of  plants  as  prizes  to  the  chil- 
dren, who  were  required  to  bring  them  back  once  or 
twice  a  year,  to  show  how  well  they  had  been 
cared  for. 

All  was  prospering,  when  suddenly,  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  the  society  had  a  bitter  disappointment  in 
losing,  by  frauds,  the  moneys  appropriated  to  it  by 
the  legislature.  Mr.  Brace  was  greatly  disturbed 
by  this  calamity.  The  thought  of  cutting  down 
any  of  the  schools  in  the  beginning  of  a  hard 
winter,  or  having  to  lessen  the  usual  dinners  and 
clothes  given  for  good  behavior,  Avas  a  great  trial  to 
him.  Financial  embarrassment,  however,  only  served 
to  show  how  firm  was  the  confidence  of  the  community 


iET.  44]  RESPONSE  OF  THE  PUBLIC  307 

in  the  society,  and  the  loss  of  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars, which  plunged  them  into  deep  anxiety,  was 
almost  entirely  made  up  to  them.  The  press  of  the 
city  appealed  for  relief,  and  soon  from  every  portion 
of  the  community  contributions  came  in  so  gener- 
ously that  they  were  scarcely  obliged  to  contract  the 
good  work  at  all. 


CHAPTER   X 

"  The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York" — Visit  to  England  as 
Delegate  to  Congress  on  Reform  —  Darwin  —  Visit  to  Hungary  — 
Twentieth  Annual  Report  —  Death  of  Mr.  Brace's  Father  — 
Death  of  John  Stuart  Mill  —  "  Soup-kitchen  "  Episode  — 
Children's  Summer  Home  of  Children's  Aid  Society 

The  spring  of  1872  saw  the  publication  of  Mr. 
Brace's  book,  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New 
York,"  which  relates  his  experiences  of  twenty  years' 
work  among  the  poor,  the  unfortunate,  and  the  igno- 
rant in  our  city.  Mr.  Brace  is  now  able  to  speak  as 
an  authority  on  efforts  in  charity,  reform,  and  edu- 
cation, and  it  makes  the  interest  of  the  book  unique 
that,  together  with  his  valuable  generalizations  on 
these  matters,  there  runs  through  almost  all  the 
pages  a  sort  of  unconscious  autobiography.  It  is 
plainly  of  himself  he  is  speaking,  when  he  says 
with  reference  to  the  sufferings  of  the  reformer: 
"If  he  has  been  inspired  by  Christ  with  a  love  of 
humanity,  there  have  been  times  when  the  evils  that 
afflict  it  clouded  his  daily  happiness;  when  the 
thought  of  the  tears  shed  that  no  one  could  wipe 
away ;  of  the  nameless  wrongs  suffered ;  of  the  igno- 
rance which  imbruted  the  young,  and  the  sins  that 

308 


JEt.  45]     SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  REFORMER  309 

stained  the  conscience ;  of  the  loneliness,  privation, 
and  pain  of  vast  masses  of  human  beings;  of  the 
necessary  degradation  of  great  multitudes;  when  the 
picture  of  all  these,  and  other  wounds  and  woes  of 
mankind,  rose  like  a  dark  cloud  between  him  and  the 
light,  and  even  the  face  of  God  was  obscured.  At 
such  times  it  has  seemed  sweeter  to  bring  smiles 
back  to  sad  faces  and  to  raise  up  the  neglected  and 
forgotten,  than  to  win  the  highest  prize  of  earth; 
and  the  thought  of  Him  who  hath  ennobled  man, 
and  whose  life  was  especially  given  for  the  poor  and 
outcast,  made  all  labors  and  sacrifices  seem  as  noth- 
ing compared  with  the  joy  of  following  in  His  foot- 
steps. At  such  rare  moments  the  ordinary  prizes  of 
life  are  forgotten  or  not  valued.  The  man  is  inspired 
with 'the  enthusiasm  of  humanity.'  He  maps  out 
a  city,  with  his  plans  and  aspirations  for  the  removal 
of  the  various  evils  which  he  sees.  His  life  flows 
out  for  those  who  can  never  reward  him,  and  who 
hardly  know  of  his  labors."^  "The  enthusiasm  of 
humanity!  "  Thus  he  tells  us  what  it  was  that  filled 
him,  making  him  a  distinct  influence  wherever  he 
went.  To  go  about  with  him,  to  see  him  thinking 
and  planning  for  these  unfortunate  ones,  understand- 
ing with  deepest  sympathy  their  temptations,  feeling 
their  sufferings,  aj)preciating  the  children's  little 
virtues,  and  pitying  their  little  vices, —  this  was  a 
1 «'  Dangerous  Classes,"  pp.  367,  368. 


310  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

revelation  and  an  inspiration  to  his  companions 
on  these  missions  of  mercy,  to  which  they  have 
more  than  once  testified.  His  connection  with  the 
public  press  made  it  possible  to  keep  before  the 
more  fortunate  the  needs  of  the  little  ones,  and  to 
gain  sympathy  and  help  for  the  manifold  efforts  of 
the  society;  and  as  he  saw  the  evils,  his  inventive 
brain  planned  remedies.  He  saw  here  a  spot  for  a 
lodging-house;  there  the  swarming  children  in  the 
streets  suggested  to  his  mind  a  school ;  and  so  grew 
up  all  about  the  city  those  healthful  influences,  the 
moral  "light-houses  of  education  and  charity  and 
reform,"  as  he  calls  them,  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  which  represent  so  much  alleviation  of  mis- 
ery to  thousands  of  families. 

But  what  Mr.  Brace's  words,  personal  as  they  are, 
do  not  tell  us,  is  what  a  power  his  was  of  winning 
to  himself  and  his  cause  those  who  worked  with  him. 
He  tells  us  that  "respect  and  courtesy  always  make 
those  who  serve  you  most  efficient,"  but  he  does  not 
tell  how  unfailing  his  courtesy  was,  how  genial  and 
kindly  his  treatment.  Faithfulness  to  duty  would 
have  been  easy  even  for  less  conscientious  em- 
ployees under  the  influence  of  his  benignant  per- 
sonality, and  it  was  a  source  of  greatest  satisfaction 
to  him  that  he  was  so  loved  by  those  who  worked 
with  and  under  him.  He  tells  us,  at  the  close  of 
the   "Dangerous   Classes,"   that   "the   aim   of    the 


^T.  45]     THE  QUESTION  OF  ALMSGIVING  311 

writer,  as  executive  officer,  has  been  to  select  just 
the  right  man  for  his  phice,  and  to  make  him  feel 
that  that  is  his  profession  and  life-calling.  Amid 
many  hundreds  thus  selected  during  twenty  years, 
he  can  recall  but  two  or  three  mistaken  choices, 
while  many  have  become  almost  identified  with  their 
labors  and  position,  and  have  accomplished  good  not 
to  be  measured.  .  .  .  Not  a  single  employee,  so  far 
as  he  is  aware,  in  all  this  time  during  his  service, 
has  ever  wronged  the  society  or  betra3'ed  his  trust. 
One  million  of  dollars  has  passed  through  the  hands 
of  the  officers  of  this  association  during  this  period, 
and  it  has  been  publicly  testified  by  the  treasurer, 
Mr.  J.  E.  Williams,  president  of  the  Metropolitan 
Bank,  that  not  a  dollar,  to  his  knowledge,  has  ever 
been  misappropriated  or  squandered." 

An  interesting  chapter  on  "How  Best  to  give 
Alms  ?  "  discusses  fully  this  most  im^Dortant  subject. 
Mr.  Brace  says :  — 

"So  convinced  is  the  writer,  by  twenty  years' 
experience  among  the  poor,  that  alms  are  mainly 
a  bane,  that  the  mere  distribution  of  gifts  by  the 
great  charity  in  which  he  is  engaged  seldom 
affords  him  much  gratification.  The  long  list  of 
benefactions  which  the  reports  record  would  be 
exceedingly  unsatisfactory  if  they  were  not  parts 
and  branches  of  a  great  preventive  and  educational 
movement.  The  majority  of  people  are  most  moved 
by  hearing  that  so  many  thousand  pairs  of  shoes,  so 


312  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

many  articles  of  clothing,  or  so  many  loaves  of  bread 
are  given  to  the  needy  and  suffering  by  some  benevo- 
lent agency.  The  experienced  friend  of  the  poor 
will  only  grieve  at  such  alms,  unless  they  are  accom- 
panied with  some  influences  to  lead  the  recipients  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  The  worst  evil  in  the  world 
is  not  poverty  or  hunger,  but  the  want  of  manhood 
or  character  which  alms-giving  directly  occasions. 
The  principle  throughout  all  the  operations  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  is  only  to  give  assistance 
where  it  bears  directly  on  character,  to  discourage 
pauperism,  to  cherish  independence,  to  place  the 
poorest  of  the  city,  the  homeless  children,  as  we 
have  so  often  said,  not  in  almshouses  or  asylums,  but 
on  farms,  where  they  support  themselves  and  add  to 
the  wealth  of  the  nation;  to  'take,  rather  than  give,' 
or  to  give  education  and  work  rather  than  alms ;  to 
place  all  their  thousands  of  little  subjects  under  such 
influences  and  such  training  that  they  will  never 
need  either  private  or  public  charity."  ^ 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  chapter 
in  which  Mr.  Brace  states  the  advantages  to  the 
boys  and  girls  of  country  life,  he  speaks  of  an  idea 
"  often  broached "  of  a  "  school  in  gardening "  for 
young  girls,  in  which  they  could  be  taught  in  the 
open  air,  and  learn  the  florist's  and  gardener's  art. 
So  far  as  we  can  find  out,  there  has  never  been 
any  attempt  made  to  do  this,  admirable  as  is  the 
idea. 

1  "  Dangerous  Classes,"  pp.  388,  389,  and  397. 


^T.  45]  NEGLECTED  CHILDREN  313 

But  for  considerations  of  space,  we  should  be 
strongly  tempted  to  quote  almost  the  entire  chapter 
on  "  The  Subject  of  applying  Religion  as  a  Lever  to 
raise  up  the  Class  of  Neglected  Children."  Mr. 
Brace's  experience  in  this  was  very  large,  in  both  the 
class  in  the  lodging-houses  and  the  hundreds  of  chil- 
dren in  the  industrial  schools.  He  says  that  they  are 
not  to  be  reached  as  Sunday-school  audiences  are,  nor 
as  adults.  Their  minds  are  acute  and  practical,  and 
the  platitudes  of  Sunday-school  oratory  are  not  for 
them.  They  have  the  childish  sense  of  the  dramatic 
abnormally  developed,  probably  by  their  education 
in  the  low  theatres.  The  genuine  and  strong  feel- 
ing of  the  heart  always  touches  them.  "  I  have  seen 
the  quick  tears  drop  over  the  dirty  cheeks  at  the 
simple  tone  of  some  warm-hearted  man  who  had 
addressed  them  with  a  deep  feeling  of  their  lone- 
liness and  desolation,  and  yet  they  would  have 
'chaffed '  him  in  five  minutes  after,  if  they  had  had 
the  opportunity."  With  a  child's  receptiveness  they 
are  peculiarly  open  to  religion,  and  at  the  same  time 
they  have  a  man's  temptations  and  exposure.  To 
give  them  something  which  may  help  them  to 
withstand  these  powerful  temptations,  this  is  the 
problem,  and  this,  Mr.  Brace  thinks,  is  done  only 
by  the  sense  of  Christ  as  the  Friend  of  men.  Moral 
influence  he  does  not  consider  a  sufficient  safe- 
guard. 


314  CHAKLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

Of  his  book,  Miss  Louisa  Lee  Schuyler  writes  from 
Bar  Harbor :  — 

"...  I  am  so  thankful  it  is  written  and  pub- 
lished,—  such  a  noble  record  of  a  noble  work.  The 
results  are  so  wonderful,  the  success  of  the  work  so 
undoubted,  that  it  is  an  inspiration  to  all  who  are 
engaged  in  similar  enterprises,  more  helpful  than 
any  other  word  of  encouragement  could  possibly  be. 
The  freshness  and  skill  with  which  the  book  is  writ- 
ten surprise  me.  The  spirit,  the  impersonality  as 
regards  your  own  share  in  the  work,  are  not  surpris- 
ing to  those  who  know  you  well. 

"  Many  thanks  for  sending  me  a  copy.  I  am  very 
glad  to  have  it  from  you.  I  am  glad  to  have  your 
account  of  my  mother's  interest  in  the  German 
school  just  what  it  is  —  recognized  by  those  who 
knew  her  as  connected  with  your  work,  not  under- 
stood by  those  who  did  not  know  her  and  who  do  not 
care.  The  little  sketch  of  her  character  is  very 
lovely,  so  delicate,  appreciative,  and  true.  It  is 
good  to  have  two  such  friends  as  you  and  herself 
associated  together  in  such  a  book  as  this  record  of 
your  work  among  the  poor.  I  would  rather  have 
this  than  anything  else  that  could  be  written  about 
my  mother." 

Two  of  the  many  letters  acknowledging  "The 
Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  although  written 
in  the  following  autumn,  are  inserted  here. 

"I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  writes  Dr.  Ros- 
well  D.  Hitchcock,  "for  sending  me  your 'Danger- 


JEx.  45]        "A  RECORD  OF   WORK   DONE"  315 

ous  Classes.'  I  have  as  yet  only  dipped  into  it  here 
and  there,  but  I  shall  read  it  just  as  soon  as  I  get 
through  some  extra  work  now  in  hand.  How  you 
can  see  and  hear  all  you  do  without  going  crazy,  is 
a  wonder  to  me.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  doesn't 
trouble  me  half  so  much  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
Divine  Goodness  in  the  face  of  all  these  woes." 


From  Florence  Nightingale. 

London,  Sept.  9,  1872. 

Sir:  I  am  unwilling  (tho'  almost  ashamed)  not 
to  thank  you  myself  for  your  invaluable  and  admira- 
ble book,  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York," 
which  I  find  that  you  were  kind  enough  to  send  me 
yourself  some  two  or  three  months  ago,  and  which  I 
have  read  like  a  text-book.  ...  I  cannot  express 
my  admiration  for  your  book,  unlike  most  other 
books  in  this, —  that  it  is  a  record  of  work  done,  of 
results  actually  obtained,  of  harvest  actually  reaping 
in  God's  field,  and  told  with  so  much  impartiality, 
such  absence  of  dogmatism,  and  of  foregone  conclu- 
sion. Had  you  but  put  those  two  principles  on 
record,—  !.  The  "providing  country  homes";  2. 
The  effect  of  "licensing  prostitutes  "  in  encouraging 
the  crime, — you  would  have  done  enough  to  be  called 
a  benefactor  of  our  common  race.  But  how  much 
more  have  you  not  done  ?  I  should  be  ashamed  to 
say  that  I  have  advocated  most  of  the  principles  in 
your  book,  for  have  you  not  outstripped  us  all?  God 
has  given  you  the  opportunity,  and  well  have  you 


316  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

answered  to  His  call  to  bring  all  these  works  to  a 
much  higher  level  and  success  than  the  highest  we 
know.  Believe  me,  that  your  book  is  having  influ- 
ence in  England,  and  that  I  can  wish  us  nothing 
better  than  that  it  should  become  a  manual ;  though, 
of  course,  the  widely  different  circumstances  of  our 
country  involve  great  modifications,  especially  in  the 
"providing  of  country  homes."  We  have  no  "  Michi- 
gan," no  "  West. "  Still,  with  our  Colonies  we  might 
do  much  more  than  we  do  do,  and  I  hope  are  making 
a  beginning.  Would  that  I  had  one  hour  a  day  of 
time  or  strength  to  take  this  up !  But  my  incessant 
indispensable  business  and  ever-increasing  illness 
make  all  but  this  poor  word  of  admiration  for  your 
work  impossible. 

Mr.  Brace's  book  came  at  a  more  opportune  time 
for  its  wider  circulation  than  would  have  been  ordi- 
narily possible.  There  was  to  be  a  congress  in 
London,  in  July,  drawing  together,  from  all  over 
the  civilized  world,  those  interested  in  the  repres- 
sion and  prevention  of  crime,  and  the  care  of  the 
criminal.  In  June  he  went  as  a  delegate  to  the 
congress,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Brace,  planning,  after 
the  business  of  his  trip  was  over,  to  take  a  run  into 
Hungary,  which  was  so  dear  to  him. 

Of  the  congress,  and  his  experiences  in  London, 
he  writes  as  follows  to  the  second  Mrs.  Schuy- 
ler:— 


^T.  46]  A  CONGRESS  IN  LONDON  317 

July  14,  1872.  [London.] 
My  dear  Friend:  .  .  .  You  will  like  to  know 
what  L.  and  I  have  been  doing.  The  congress  was 
a  great  success,  but  I  shall  say  nothing  about  it,  as  I 
hope  you  see  my  letters  about  it  in  the  "Times."  I 
presided  one  day,  and  had  full  sweep,  for  which 
I  was  rejoiced.  I  don't  like  the  English  as  they 
appear  in  public,  as  well  as  in  private.  The  old 
barbarism  of  views  appears,  and  self-satisfaction  with 
their  abuses,  and  a  decided  lack  of  true  courtesy. 
They  mumble  so,  and  don't  understand  parliamen- 
tary management.  I  think,  however,  all  the  coun- 
tries received  benefit  from  one  another.  Our  C.  A.  S. 
work  interested  them  greatly,  and  my  book  was  dis- 
tributed well.  But  you  are  more  interested  in  our 
social  life.  It  has  been  all  that  I  expected,  .  .  . 
each  day  three  engagements  deep.  In  fact,  we  might 
spend  another  month  at  it  instead  of  two  weeks,  and 
be  full.  Among  the  pleasant  events  was  a  most 
interesting  lunch  at  Miss  Cobbe's.  She  gave  us 
striking  accounts  of  the  high  spiritual  views  of  the 
converted  Hindoos  in  London.  She  objects  to  all 
supernaturalism  except  what  is  universal.  I  was 
surprised  to  find  her  a  little  weak  on  Toryism  and 
the  aristocracy.  We  met  first  at  a  sermon  of  Mar- 
tineau's,  a  superb  one,  drawing  the  distinction  be- 
tween revelation  (inspiration)  and  apocalypse  (super- 
natural and  sudden  vision).  We  saw  the  Lyells 
twice.  Sir  C.  is  failing  sadly;  a  splendid  brain 
coming  to  its  setting.  .  .  .  Every  one  is  full  of 
kindness  and  hospitality,  but  every  one  is  just  going 
to  Switzerland!  We  missed  meeting  Browning  in 
that  way. 


318  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

Mr.  Lyulph  Stanley  gave  me  a  splendid  dinner  at 
his  mother's.  Only  two  commoners  present  besides 
myself,  a  smart  young  lawyer  and  Mr.  Doyle  of  the 
"Punch."  Of  the  five  lords,— Edward  Russell,  Fr. 
Russell,  Sligo,  Amberly,  and  Airly, —  four  had  been 
to  America  and  were  so  delighted  at  their  reception! 
They  had  beautiful  little  vases  of  glass  with  ice  at 
each  plate,  and  quite  a  French  dinner  —  no  roasts 
or  joints,  I  fancy  —  all  brought  to  you,  and  conversa- 
tion very  lively.  (All  houses  have  a  new  kind  of 
knife  and  fork  for  fish  now.)  Only  a  short  time 
over  our  wine,  and  the  dinner  between  eight  and  ten. 
There  was  the  utmost  courtesy.  All  waited  for  me 
in  going  to  the  drawing-room,  and  all  the  family 
had  read  enough  of  my  book  to  be  able  to  talk  of  it; 
and  the  ladies  exceedingly  pleasant  and  considerate. 
All  left  at  eleven  for  Academy  of  Arts.  (You  will 
believe  me  when  I  say  that  no  dinners  in  London 
surpass  yours  in  true  grace  and  liveliness.)  Our 
most  interesting  dinner  was  at  Mr.  Forster's,  Minis- 
ter of  Education ;  a  self-made  man,  energetic,  not 
elegant,  strong-willed  (like  an  American),  he  has 
cut  his  way  to  a  place  hardly  inferior  to  Gladstone's. 
He  picked  me  up  seven  years  ago,  because  his  wife 
(Dr.  Arnold's  daughter)  read  my  books.  Very 
kindly,  he  had  asked  Tom  Hughes,  Lefevre,  and 
Mundella  to  meet  us.  'Twas  a  glorious  dinner, 
full  of  talk,  though  L.  had  the  best  end  (Mundella 
couldn't  come).  Lefevre  was  at  our  house  once 
in  Hastinofs.  He  left  at  nine  for  fear  of  a  vote  in 
the  House,  and  they  at  ten,  and  I  saw  Forster  headed 
a  debate  till  two  o'clock.  This  night-work  uses 
them  all  up  fearfully.     They  were  deeply  interested 


^T.  46]  VISITING  DARWIN  319 

about  Greeley  and  Grant.  Forster  was  so  relieved 
at  finishing  the  ballot  business;  he  says  he  enjoys 
being  cross-questioned  in  the  House.  They  all  say 
the  Avoman-question  is  much  behindhand  this  year, 
as  with  us.  Mrs.  Forster  is  a  very  superior  person. 
Among  other  pleasant  places,  a  dinner  at  Dean  of  St. 
Paul's  and  at  Mr.  Russell  Guerney's,  and  a  very 
pleasant  dinner  at  home,  with  "  Spectator  "  men  and 
Mrs.  Dr.  Garrett  Anderson,  etc.,  etc.  But  public 
life  now  is  utterly  uninteresting  here  to  a  stranger; 
no  great  question  up.  Then  lots  of  galleries  and 
pictures,  and  the  congress.  Weather  very  hot.  .  .  . 
There  is  something  sad  in  thinking  of  these  two 
(Lady  and  Sir  C.  Lyell)  finishing  their  long  journey 
together.  "He  has  grown  old  in  the  respect  of 
mankind,"  Zincke  says.  Thursday  we  go  to  Leam- 
ington and  Stratford  for  a  visit,  and  then  I  go  to  the 
Continent  and  L.  to  Ireland,  after  some  visiting. 

Mr.  Brace  brought  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
Charles  Darwin  from  Dr.  Gray,  and  as  a  result  he 
and  Mrs.  Brace  were  asked  to  dine  and  pass  the 
night  at  Down.  The  experience  was  one  of  the 
most  delightful  of  the  summer,  and  Mr.  Brace  writes 
of  it  as  follows :  — 

To  a  Friend. 

Down,  Bromley,  Kent,  July  12,  1872. 
My  dear  J — ;  I  am  at  Mr.   Darwin's  with  Mrs. 
Brace  for  the  night.     It  is  a  country  to  delight  R.'s 
heart.     Green,  thick   hedges,  narrow,  shaded   lanes, 


320  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

glimpses  of  parks  and  oak-openings,  old  mossy  vil- 
lages, quaint  churches,  pretty  spires  rising  over  the 
tree-tops,  birds  singing  (the  lark  rose  just  now, 
singing),  the  air  full  of  fragrance,  all  quiet  and  re- 
pose. The  house  an  old  one,  added  to  and  covered 
with  lime,  green  all  around,  a  trim  garden  with 
bright  flowers,  a  lawn,  and  a  long  green  meadow 
with  trees,  and  a  kitchen-garden  full  of  fruit  and 
vegetables,  and  the  flower-houses  where  Mr.  D.  has 
made  his  experiments.  In  driving  here  this  after- 
noon, we  passed  through  a  lane  over  a  mile  long, 
with  hedges  higher  than  a  man,  and  the  banks  cov- 
ered with  scarlet  poppy,  and  so  narrow  that  two 
wagons  could  hardly  pass  one  another,  and  all  arched 
with  trees.  It  passed  through  the  estate  of  Sir  John 
Lubbock,  who  is  a  neighbor  of  Darwin's.  As  we 
came  in,  Darwin  himself  was  standing  in  his  draw- 
ing-room and  met  us  most  cordially,  taking  both  my 
hands.  Mrs.  D.,  too,  most  kind  and  hearty.  I  had 
a  little  stroll  in  the  garden  before  we  dressed  for 
dinner.  He  has  there  a  (CaL)  Sequoia  thirty  feet 
high,  I  think  some  twenty  years  old,  though  none 
remembers  exactly  the  date  of  its  planting.  (Figs 
grow  nicely  in  his  garden.)  We  calculated  that 
this  tree  will  get  its  growth  when  England  is  a  re- 
public ! 

Darwin  was  as  simple  and  jovial  as  a  boy,  at  din- 
ner, sitting  up  on  a  cushion  in  a  high  chair,  very 
erect,  to  guard  his  weakness.  Among  other  things, 
he  said  "his  rule  in  governing  his  children  was  to 
give  them  lump-sugar!  "  He  rallied  us  on  our  vig- 
orous movements,  and  professed  to  be  dazzled  at  the 
rapidity  of  our  operations.     He  says  he  never  moves, 


JEt.  46]  DARWIN  AT   HOME  321 

and  though  he  can  only  work  an  hour  or  two  every 
day,  b}^  always  doing  that,  and  having  no  break,  he 
accomplishes  what  he  does.  He  left  us  for  half  an 
hour  after  dinner  for  rest,  and  then  returned  to  his 
throne  in  the  parlor. 

We  had  a  lively  talk  on  the  instincts  of  dogs 
(several  persons  being  there)  and  on  "cross-breed- 
ing," and  he  became  animated  explaining  his  experi- 
ments in  regard  to  it.  .  .  .  I  was  telling  him  that 
the  California  primitive  skulls  were  of  a  remarkably 
good  type.  He  gave  one  of  his  lighting-up  smiles, 
which  seemed  to  come  way  out  from  under  his 
shaggy  eyebrows.  "Yes,"  he  said;  "it  is  very  un- 
pleasant of  these  facts;  they  won't  fit  in  as  they 
ought  to!"  .  .  .  He  told  us,  with  such  glee,  of  a 
letter  he  had  just  got  from  a  clergyman,  saying  that 
"he  was  delighted  to  see,  from  a  recent  photograph, 
that  no  man  in  England  was  more  like  the  monkey 
he  came  from!"  and  of  another  from  an  American 
clergyman  (  ?)  beginning  with,  "  You  d d  scoun- 
drel!" and  sprinkled  with  oaths  and  texts.  .  .  . 
These  things  amuse  hira;  but  not  a  word  did  he  say 
of  his  own  success  or  fame.  He  breakfasts  at  half 
past  seven,  but  sat  by  us  later,  as  we  ate,  and  joked 
and  cut  for  us,  and  was  as  kind  as  could  be.  I 
never  met  a  more  simple,  happy  man, —  as  merry  and 
keen  as  Dr.  Gray,  whom  he  loves  much.  Both  he 
and  Lyell  think  Dr.  G.  the  soundest  scientific  brain 
in  America.  ...  "  How  unequally  is  vitality  dis- 
tributed," he  said,  as  he  heard  what  we  did  every 
day.  .  .  .  His  parting  was  as  of  an  old  and  dear 
friend.  I  hope  this  picture  of  the  best  brain  in 
Europe  will  not  weary  you. 


322  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

Mr.  Brace,  on  his  return  to  London,  sent  to  Mr. 
Darwin  "The  Dangerous  Classes  of  New  York,"  and 
received  in  acknowledgment  the  following  letter :  — 

From  Charles  Darwin. 

Down,  Beckenham,  Kent,  July  20,  1872. 

My  dear  Mr.  Brace :  I  am  much  obliged  for  your 
extremely  kind  note.  I  cannot  speak  positively 
about  the  Sequoia,  but  my  impression  is  that  Heer 
found  it  in  the  lignite  beds  of  Devonshire. 

Since  you  were  here,  my  wife  has  read  aloud  to 
me  more  than  half  of  your  work,  and  it  has  inter- 
ested us  both  in  the  highest  degree,  and  we  shall 
read  every  word  of  the  remainder.  The  facts  seem 
to  me  very  well  told,  and  the  inferences  very  strik- 
ing. But  after  all,  this  is  but  a  weak  part  of  the 
impression  left  on  our  minds  by  what  we  have  read; 
for  we  are  both  filled  with  earnest  admiration  at  the 
heroic  labors  of  yourself  and  others.  With  hearty 
respects,  and  our  very  kind  remembrances  to  Mrs. 
Brace,  etc. 

At  the  close  of  the  congress  Mr.  Brace  started 
for  Hungary,  and  after  a  day  or  two  in  Germany, 
reached  Buda-Pesth.  It  was  somewhat  deserted,  in 
the  intensely  hot  weather,  by  the  old  friends  he  hoped 
to  see ;  but  everywhere  he  made  new  friends,  in  one 
case  getting  into  conversation  with  a  Hungarian 
who  was  especially  interested  in  America,  and 
talking  steadily  for  three  hours,  at  the  end  of  which 


^T.  46]  IN  HUNGARY  ONCE  MORE  323 

time  his  neAV  acquaintance  insisted  upon  his  visit- 
ing him!  Under  date  of  August  3d,  he  writes  to 
his  father  from  Debreczin :  — 

"  Here  I  am  in  the  heart  of  Hungary  again !  I 
wish  you  could  have  seen  the  old  bishop  kiss  me 
when  he  saw  me  again.  I  am  staying  at  my  old 
friend  the  doctor's  house.  All  tlie  houses  are  one 
story.  There  is  an  elegant  parlor  here  with  two  beds 
in  it.  I  sleep  in  one,  and  the  doctor  sleeps  in  his 
library.  He  has  a  handsome  brougham,  two  Indian 
buffalo-cows,  three  white  cows  with  horns  three  feet 
long,  two  wild  birds  like  turkeys  tamed,  and  a  gar- 
den just  like  an  American.  The  streets  are  full  of 
men  in  night-gowns,  top-boots,  and  feathered  hats, 
and  with  a  thousand  women  selling  everything  in 
the  street.  There  goes  a  man  in  a  night-gown,  with 
two  enormous  loaves  of  bread  hanging  over  his 
shoulder  before  and  behind,  three  feet  broad.  The 
water- vases  are  just  like  old  Roman ;  heaps  of  melons, 
tomatoes,  corn  —  all  like  ours  —  are  in  the  street; 
oats,  baskets,  clothes,  everything  for  sale.  My 
friends  are  so  kind!  Last  night  we  had  such  Tokay 
wine!  It  is  fearfully  hot,  from  90°  to  100°.  To- 
morrow I  shall  visit  my  old  prison  in  Gros  Wardein 
and  be  with  my  prison-comrade,  a  Hungarian  preacher. 
Then  for  Transylvania!  The  peasants  drive  seven 
horses  with  basket-wagons,  four  abreast  and  three. 
They  wear  blankets,  like  Indians,  and  are  as  brown, 
but  with  great  moustaches  and  shaven  face." 

And  from  Gros  Wardein  the  next  day :  — 


324  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

"My  old  prison  comrade  met  me  at  the  station 
with  a  carriage.  He  kissed  me  on  both  cheeks.  He 
has  kept  my  knife  and  fork  (brought  from  America) 
as  a  memorial.  We  had  a  grand  Radical  Kossuth 
supper  last  night.  An  editor  met  me  on  the  cars 
who  says  the  papers  have  long  articles  about  me  and 
my  former  imprisonment." 

At  Gros  Wardein  he  went  to  the  prison  (no 
longer  a  prison,  but  a  factory),  and  looked  out  of  the 
window  of  the  old  cell,  "  where  I  had  watched  the 
distant  hills  with  such  intense  longings  for  liberty, 
and  faint  hopes  of  ever  obtaining  it."  He  travelled 
on  eastwards  across  the  prairie,  which  he  describes 
as  follows  in  a  letter  to  the  "  Christian  Union :  "  — 

"The  Puszta  quivered  with  heat  as  we  passed, 
and  great  sparkling  lakes  with  cool  water  in  the  dis- 
tance seemed  to  invite  us  to  a  pleasant  contrast, 
until  they  suddenly  changed  to  endless  Indian  corn- 
fields, broken  now  and  then  by  the  green  islands  of 
the  prairie  where  the  church-tower  and  the  trees 
showed  a  village  hidden  beneath.  Under  the  blaz- 
ing sun,  the  Bauers,  with  broad-brimmed  black  hat 
and  linen  toga,  worked  patiently  at  the  corn,  or,  with 
sheep-skin  over  one  shoulder,  lazily  watched  the 
long-horned  white  cattle  or  the  sheep.  Evidently 
no  fear  of  sun-stroke  troubled  them.  On  both  sides 
stretched  the  boundless  fields  of  Indian  corn,  and 
the  prairie  had  not  even  the  wave-like  roll  of  our 
Western  prairie.  It  was  a  sea  of  green  without  a 
wave." 


^T.  46]  IN  TRANSYLVANIA  325 

The  last,  best  visit  of  all,  far  off  in  Transylvania, 
was  the  climax  to  a  most  happy  month.  Although 
we  have  but  one  private  letter  about  the  beautiful 
Castle  Vdcs  and  its  inmates,  the  following  letter  to 
the  "Christian  Union,"  to  which  he  contributed 
throughout  his  journey,  tells  so  fully  and  frankly  of 
his  experiences  and  impressions,  that  it  might  easily 
pass  for  a  friendly  letter :  — 

"What  I  have  always  considered  as  the  highest 
proof  of  our  American  civilization  —  the  sharing  of 
women  in  the  best  interests  of  man  —  seems  as  true 
of  society  here  as  in  the  United  States.  Let  me 
give  an  instance.  I  was  residing  lately  in  a  most 
romantic  old  castle,  half  a  ruin,  with  a  young  baron 
and  baroness  descended  directly  from  the  ancient 
kings  of  Transylvania.  The  scene  Avas  one  -of  mid- 
dle age  romance  and  exquisite  beauty,  so  striking 
that  I  fear  to  reproduce  it  lest  I  should  identify  my 
kind  hosts.  The  drawing-room  seemed  like  a  fies- 
coed  dungeon.  The  lady  spoke  German  and  French 
perfectly.  Our  conversation  had  been  in  German. 
I  had  been  endeavoring  to  explain  an  American 
problem  in  political  economy,  that  is,  the  effect  of 
high  duties  on  avooI  in  injuring  both  the  wool- 
growers  and  the  manufacturers.  I  was  not  satisfied 
to  unfold  such  subtle  matters  in  German,  and  know- 
ing that  this  lady  understood  English,  I  gave  it  to 
her  in  English,  when  she  immediately  rendered  it 
again  in  German  to  her  husband,  not  only  gathering 
the  points,   but   being  able   to  set  it  forth  in   two 


326  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

foreign  languages.  This  is  certainly  culture.  The 
talk  in  the  medieeval  castle  was  precisely  what  it  is 
on  the  piazza  of  a  Hudson  villa  or  around  a  West- 
end  dinner  in  London." 

The  following  letters  farther  describe  this  delight- 
ful Hungarian  experience :  — 

To  his  Wife,  after  leaving  Vies. 

Aug.  23,  1872. 

Dearest  Wife :  The  baroness  is  lovely,  and  like  a 
relative.  I  learn  a  great  deal,  too,  of  interior  Hun- 
garian life  and  schools  and  agriculture,  etc.  We 
took  our  last  walks  through  the  lovely  wood  and 
park,  and  watched  the  Maros  winding  like  a  blue 
ribbon  through  the  green  valley,  and  the  shadows  on 
"God's  seat"  and  the  high  mountains,  and  discussed 
everything,  and  our  last  dinner  and  coffee,  all  look- 
ing sad,  and  I  took  my  final  view  from  the  beauti- 
ful "bastion,"  and  the  baroness  came  down  to  the 
door,  and  said,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  "I  fear  to  see 
you  not  for  so  many  years !  "  and  the  nephew  kissed 
my  hand  and  I  the  baroness's  and  I  said,  "God  bless 
you !  "  —  "  Isten  alcljon  mek  !  "  —  and  we  got  into  the 
carriage  in  a  fearful  storm,  the  Wallachs  ringing  the 
church-bell  to  keep  off  the  rain,  and  bid  farewell  to 
such  friends  as  one  does  not  often  meet.  The  baron 
accompanies  me  thirty  miles  (three  and  a  half  hours) 
in  the  storm,  sees  to  my  luggage  and  all,  and  must 
spend  the  night  in  the  town.  Is  not  that  hospital- 
ity?    I  really  felt  quite  like  being  out  in  the  world 


^T.  46]  INTERVIEW   WITH  DEAR  327 

again,  such  a  friendship  had  we  struck  up.  So 
much  for  the  sudden  friendship  of  ten  years  ago!  I 
am  so  glad  I  went  there.     It  was  well  in  all  points. 


To  Miss  Cr.  Schuyler. 

Pesth,  Sept.  1,  1872. 
Mt/  dear  Miss  G — ;  .  .  .  Yesterday  I  had  two 
brief  interviews  with  "the  old  gentleman,"  as  they 
call  him  —  Deak,  the  true  governor  of  Hungary. 
He  lives  in  two  simple  rooms  in  a  hotel,  a  stout, 
florid  old  gentleman,  without  gray  hair,  but  sixty- 
nine  years  old,  he  said;  evidently  not  strong  now, 
asthmatic,  his  voice  weak.  A  man  of  solid,  pene- 
trating sense  —  not  an  orator.  He  said  he  "hoped 
to  have  strength  to  tighten  a  few  screws  and  loosen 
a  few  others."  He  is  the  author  of  "Dualism," 
which  has  made  Hungary  what  it  is.  Without  a 
title  or  an  honor  he  governs  Hungary.  ...  I  met 
a  young  member  of  Parliament  on  the  train,  who 
took  me  to  his  heart  and  home,  wanted  me  to  stay  a 
week,  drove  me  all  over  the  country,  stuffed  my 
valise  with  wine,  came  down  with  a  beautiful  wife 
five  miles  through  the  mud  to  see  me  off,  and  kissed 
me  at  parting!  Tell  your  father  he  would  envy  me 
the  old  Tokays  and  what  not  I  have  consumed  here. 
I  shall  decline  all  good  dinners  for  the  next  six 
months.  The  Hungarian  papers  are  quoting  my 
remarks  on  their  affairs.  The  one  I  enclose  you  will 
see  is  characterized  by  much  point  and  wit.^ 

1 A  cutting  from  a  newspaper  in  the  Hungarian  language. 


328  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

Before  October,  1872,  Mr.  Brace  is  at  his  post 
again,  reviewing  in  his  twentieth  annual  report  the 
change  since  the  day  twenty  years  before  when  the 
society  began  its  work,  and  the  whole  force  con- 
sisted, of  himself  and  an  office-boy,  while  the  work 
of  addressing  circulars  was  shared  by  the  trustees, 
who  met  together  in  the  evening  for  the  purpose. 
Now,  he  says,  there  are  seventy-two  teachers  em- 
ployed, and  the  society  reaches  nine  thousand  poor 
children  in  the  twenty-one  industrial  schools  and 
fifteen  night  schools,  and  about  twelve  thousand 
homeless  boys  and  girls  in  the  five  lodging-houses; 
and,  in  addition,  provides  with  homes  some  three 
thousand  children  more !     Of  these  teachers  he  says  : 

"  Too  much  can  hardly  be  said  in  praise  of  [their] 
patient  and  self-denying  efforts.  Year  after  year 
they  labor  on,  their  work  seldom  known  or  appre- 
ciated by  the  outside  world,  humbly  and  faithfully 
seeking  to  elevate  these  wretched  little  ones,  and  to 
implant  higher  principles  and  purer  ideas  in  their 
young  minds.  Each  day,  with  few  to  approve  or 
help,  the  teacher  is  waging  this  quiet  warfare  with 
idleness,  selfishness,  and  degradation.  She  seeks  to 
replace  selfishness  by  love,  and  her  hold  upon  the 
affections  of  these  little  creatures  is  strengthened  by 
her  devoted  efforts  out  of  school  hours  as  well  as  in, 
for  sh&  visits  the  homes  of  the  wretched  parents, 
moving  amid  suffering  and  poverty  which  she  is 
often  powerless  to  aid  except  through  her  sympathy. " 


^T.46]  LOSS  OF  HIS  FATHER  329 

As  Mr.  Brace  tells,  in  1872,  of  the  work  of  emi- 
gration, he  dwells  with  strong  feeling  on  the  mean- 
ing of  the  simple  statement  that  three  thousand  chil- 
dren have  been  placed  in  homes.  He  speaks  of  the 
weary  and  discouraging  histories  of  poverty  of  which 
he  learns  as  he  gathers  together  these  little  ones 
to  remove  them  from  New  York,  of  the  homelessness 
and  hunger  and  incessant  temptations  from  which 
the  children  are  rescued,  and  then  puts  before  us  a 
picture  of  the  opportunities,  the  new  hopes,  new 
habits,  new  modes  of  life  in  the  wide  West,  and  em- 
phasizes the  whole  with  a  story  told  by  an  agent,  of 
the  little  child  snatched  five  years  before  from  want, 
misery,  and  sin,  and  placed  in  a  happy,  comfortable 
home.  When  the  woman  who  has  been  the  adopted 
mother  to  the  boy,  learns  that  this  is  an  agent  of  the 
society  that  gave  her  her  little  charge,  "  you  see  the 
woman's  heart  rush  up  in  her  face  until,  from  very 
pity,  you  exclaim  at  once,  'I  have  not  come  to  take 
him  away! '  " 

At  the  end  of  October  the  great  sorrow  came  to 
him  of  losing  his  father.  Mr.  J.  P.  Brace  had  been 
failing  for  some  years,  having  been  a  great  sufferer 
from  rheumatism,  and  had  grown  so  feeble  that  his 
life  was  passed  in  a  wheeled  chair  in  his  Litchfield 
home.  He  lived  almost  entirely  in  his  library,  where 
a  large  accumulation  of  scientific   and  theological 


330  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1872 

books,  as  well  as  many  volumes  of  poetry,  made  his 
days  pass  not  unhappily.  "  The  exquisite  feeling 
for  nature  which  had  characterized  him  throughout 
his  life  was  preserved  to  the  last, "says  a  friend;  and 
the  same  friend  continues,  "birds  and  flowers  were 
his  only  pleasure  almost  in  his  dying  moments,  and 
the  last  names  he  forgot  were  the  botanical.  Even 
historical  dates  were  remembered  by  him  when  many 
a  personal  event  had  passed  from  his  memory." 

The  next  letters  tell  us  something  of  the  charac- 
ter of  him  for  whom  so  many  were  mourning,  and 
show  us,  in  some  slight  degree,  how  original  a  char- 
acter it  was. 

To  F.  L.  Kingsbury. 

FiSHKiLL,  Sunday,  Nov.  3,  1872. 

My  dear  Fred:  Since  I  last  wrote,  my  dear  old 
father  has  passed  away,  and  owing  to  the  delaj^  in 
the  telegram,  to  my  intense  disappointment,  I  did 
not  reach  him  alive.  No  father  ever  did  more  for 
his  son.  He  was  a  man  of  vast  acquirements,  and 
he  sacrificed  everything  for  his  children.  I  will 
send  you  some  notices  of  him  if  you  have  not  read 
any.  I  was  left  sole  executor  of  his  estate  (some 
seventy  thousand  dollars),  and  have  settled  it  all  in 
ten  days.  Every  time  I  left  him  I  expected  his 
departure.  He  has  left  a  sweet  and  noble  memory, 
and  I  only  pray  I  may  do  one-tenth  as  much  for  my 
children. 


iEx.  46]  LETTER  FROM  MRS.  GRAY.  331 

From  Mrs.  Asa  Crray. 

Cambridge,  Oct.  12,  1872. 

.  .  .  And  to  you !  It  comes  such  a  solemn  charge 
when  one  takes  the  place  of  the  oldest  generation! 
Those  before  us  are  gradually  dropping  away,  and 
we  are  getting  on  to  the  old  people. 

It  has  brought  back  so  many  memories  of  past 
days,  of  your  father  in  his  activity  and  energy,  his 
originality  and  immense  variety  of  information  and 
versatility,  and  his  merry  laugh  and  fun.  His  ab- 
surd way  of  looking  at  what  are  generally  only 
bemoaned, —  the  toothache,  or  getting  his  pocket 
picked !  How  pleasant  those  young  days  were !  He 
has  left  his  mark,  for  his  influence  must  have  been 
very  great  on  those  he  taught,  he  was  so  suggestive 
always  in  conversation.  I  remember  in  my  annual 
journey  to  Litchfield  in  old  days,  when  he  was  living 
alone  in  Hartford,  the  climbs  up  into  his  den,  where 
I  used  to  spend  the  hours  between  the  trains ;  and 
then  his  long  visit  here  helping  Dr.  Gray  over  plants. 

And  how  pleasant  to  think  of  the  comfort  of  late 
years  from  dear  Aunt  Mary's  bequests.  She  did  so 
much  good  in  her  life,  and  left  so  much  comfort 
behind  her!  How  many  memories  about  that  dear 
old  house!  Do  give  my  love  to  all  the  sad  circle 
gathered  there,  and  my  warm  sympathy  in  their  joy 
and  in  their  sorrow, —  joy  for  him,  sorrow  for  them- 
selves. 

The  death  of  John  Stuart  INIill  in  the  spring  of 
1873  was  a  personal  sorrow  to  Mr.  Brace,  as  well  as 


332  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1873 

a  loss  to  the  scientific  world.  He  says,  in  writing 
to  a  friend,  "  We  all  feel  poorer  in  the  death  of  Mill. 
What  a  charming  memory  he  leaves  with  us  all  who 
knew  him,  and  what  a  grand  life  to  the  world." 

To  the  "Christian  Union,"  under  date  of  May  31, 
1873,  he  writes :  — 

"  In  the  death  of  John  Stuart  Mill  the  whole  intel- 
lectual world  will  feel  poorer.  .  .  .  Except  Darwin, 
no  philosopher  has  left  a  deeper  impression  on  the 
thought  of  his  age.  The  Utilitarian  school,  of  which 
he  was  one  of  the  teachers,  we  trust  is  to  have  but  a 
passing  influence.  But  Mr.  Mill  himself,  in  his  per- 
sonal character  and  his  political  writings,  belongs  to 
that  higher  school  of  intuitional  moralists,  who,  in 
all  ages,  have  shown  the  utmost  attainments  of  the 
human  soul,  in  utter  and  unselfish  devotion  to  the 
principles  of  truth  and  justice  and  humanity. 

"•  It  has  been  the  good  fortune  of  the  writer  to  know 
Mr.  Mill  personally,  and  to  have  corresponded  with 
him  during  a  number  of  3-ears.  Before  meeting 
him  I  had  expected  to  find  a  clear,  acute,  logical, 
but  somewhat  dry  philosopher,  one  who  would  meas- 
ure everything,  even  in  social  intercourse,  by  the 
standard  of  the  intellect,  and  by  the  strictest  logical 
rule.  To  my  surprise,  I  found  a  gentleman,  in 
manner  like  an  old  French  count,  full  of  courtesy, 
kindness,  and  small  attentions,  graceful  and  almost 
affectionate  in  his  ways,  his  face  beaming  with  sen- 
timent, and  his  e3'es  lighting  up  when  any  heroic  or 
chivalric  feeling  was  called  forth.     From  conversing 


JEt.  46]  JOHN  STUART  MILL  333 

with  him,  one  would  say  his  prominent  characteris- 
tic was  feeling  and  sympathy  with  all  the  nobler  side 
of  human  nature.  I  saw  him  first  just  after  the  close 
of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  He  asked,  with  a 
peculiar  interest,  about  John  Brown,  and  I  remem- 
ber his  eyes  filled  with  tears  as  he  spoke  of  the 
wonderful  heroism  of  his  effort,  and  said,  '  If  he  is 
looking  down  now  from  the  other  world,  how  it 
must  gladden  him  to  see  such  a  result  of  his  death!  ' 
It  was  a  remarkable  characteristic  of  Mr.  Mill  that  in 
the  darkest  days  of  our  Civil  War,  when  most,  even 
among  our  friends,  despaired  of  our  final  success,  he 
never  doubted.  He  always  wrote  to  me  and  other 
correspondents  as  if  final  victory  was  sure  as  the 
return  of  the  seasons.  .  .  .  Unfortunately,  most  of 
his  letters  during  the  past  few  years  I  have  given 
away  to  autograph-hunters.  But  one,  which  was 
written  just  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  was 
so  felicitous  in  its  expression,  and  so  characteristic, 
that  I  copied  a  passage  and  preserved  it.  On  reach- 
ing England,  I  had  written  to  him  how  disgusted  I 
was  at  the  sudden  conversion  of  many  Englishmen 
to  the  side  of  the  North  after  the  defeat  of  General 
Lee.  He  replied:  'Your  remark  is  most  just  on  the 
unworthiness  of  the  conversions  due  only  to  suc- 
cess. Such  conversions  merely  show  the  fundamen- 
tal unworthiness  of  the  original  error.  The  disgust 
they  occasion  is  one  of  the  causes  which  make  those 
who  have  fought  an  up-hill  battle  up  to  the  hour  of 
victory  eager  to  go  forward  to  something  else,  in 
which  they  will  still  have  the  low-minded  and  self- 
ish part  of  mankind  against  them.'  .  .  .  Mr.  Mill 
no  doubt  died  as  he  had  lived,  a   consistent  '  Mod- 


334  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1873 

ern  Stoic'  His  favorite  reading  was  Marcus  Aiue- 
lius,  and  he  has  left  to  the  world  the  memory  of 
the  highest  Stoical  life,  of  utter  devotion  to  truth, 
justice,  and  humanity;  but  alas!  in  all  probability, 
without  the  conscious  inspiration  of  Christianity, 
and  without  a  hope  of  personal  immortality.  To 
such  a  soul  one  cannot  doubt  that  the  myster}-  of 
Eternity  will  unfold  grander  truths  and  more  inspir- 
ing hopes  than  he  ever  dared  to  entertain  on  earth; 
and  that  pure  and  noble  heart,  freed  from  the  decep- 
tion of  time  and  sense,  will  bow  to  Christ  as  one 
worthy  of  all  its  homage,  and  with  a  devotion  whose 
only  regret  can  be  that  it  was  given  too  late." 

Of  his  friendly  letters  of  this  winter  we  have  only 
the  following :  — 

To  a  Friend. 

New  York,  Sept.  24,  1873, 
My  dear  M—  :  How  much  I  wish  you  could  be 
with  us  this  glorious  season  and  see  the  wonderful 
beauties  of  the  Hudson.  We  both  want  to  know  if 
you  could  not  visit  us  during  October.  I  found,  as 
you  did,  Arnold  deeply  interesting,  though  at  bot- 
tom lies  a  deep  scepticism  which  must  land  him  in 
positivism.  But  the  book  is  edifying,  because  so 
honest.  I  agree  with  you  about  "Israel."  The 
more  rationalistic  I  become  about  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, the  more  admiration  I  have  for  the  religious 
sense,  and  reverence  for  the  inspiration  of  those  poets 
and  patriarchs.     The  Bible  becomes  more  and  more 


^T.  47]     THE  "SOUP-KITCHEN"  MOVEMENT        335 

valuable  to  me.  But,  of  all  tilings,  it  seems  to  me 
the  Jewish  patriarchs  were  filled  with  a  sense  of 
a  person  —  not  a  power  or  current  —  making  for 
righteousness,  and  whoever  excludes  personality 
(in  whatever  sense)  becomes  a  Positivist,  and  has 
above  and  around  him  only  a  drift  of  things,  a  nec- 
essary development,  perhaps,  but  not  a  God.  .  .  . 
If  you  could  see  the  Palisades  now! 

Early  in  the  year  of  1874  Mr.  Brace  suffered  from 
an  experience  which  was  for  a  short  time  a  bitter 
strain  upon  him.  He  became  suddenly  the  object 
of  violent  abuse  from  one  of  the  New  York  papers. 
The  trouble  arose  from  Mr.  Brace's  objection  to 
"soup-kitchens,"  which  he  expressed  openly  in 
letters  to  the  "Times,"  his  medium  of  putting 
his  views  before  the  public  on  every  subject  of 
public  interest.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Howard  Potter 
he    explains    his    opposition    thus  :  — 

"The  greatest  evil  with  which  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  deals,  is  not  poverty,  but  pauperism,  and 
we  struggle  against  it  everywhere.  The  fear  I  have 
had  this  winter  has  been,  most  of  all,  that  a  new 
pauper  class  would  be  formed.  So  in  the  beginning 
of  the  '  soup-kitchen  '  movement  I  wrote  against  it 
(just  as  I  did  in  1857)  in  order  to  prevent  in- 
judicious modes  of  charity,  Avhich  produce  pauper- 
ism. Just  as  a  bank  president  should  speak  on 
methods  of  finance,  so  should  the  secretary  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society  on  methods  of  charity.   .   .   . 


336  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1874 

Must  not  'good  be  evil-spoken  of '  if  the  truth  hap- 
pens to  go  against  the  present  impulse,  and  will  not 
the  true  methods  of  charity  be  learned  by  just  such 
abuse  of  the  ignorant?  ...  I  watch  the  'soup- 
kitchens  '  and  they  all  confirm  my  views." 

How  he  bore  the  persecution  is  best  told  in  the 
words  of  Mr.  Potter,  who  wrote  the  memorial  of 
him  printed  in  the  report  the  winter  after  his 
death : — 

"...  But  nobody  who  did  not  stand  beside  him 
then  can  well  realize  how  bitter  and  unscrupulous 
were  the  imputations  to  which  he  was  subjected. 
For  one  whole  winter  one  of  the  most  influential 
daily  papers  of  New  York  teemed  with  abuse  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society  and  of  Mr.  Brace  personally. 
.  .  .  He  not  only  endured  in  silence  all  the  abuse 
to  which  he  was  exposed,  but  it  seemed  to  leave  not 
the  least  shadow  of  rancor  in  his  feelings  towards 
those  who  were  opposed  to  him,  and  who  were  daily 
showering  abuse  upon  him.  His,  indeed,  was  the 
charity  that  could  suffer  long  and  be  kind;  that 
was  not  easily  provoked  nor  willing  to  think  evil, 
but,  rejoicing  in  the  truth,  was  ready  to  bear  all 
adverse  things  with  never-failing  faith  and  hope, 
and  to  'endure  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.'  " 

It  was  a  source  of  deep  satisfaction  to  the  many 
friends  of  the  society  that  nothing  was  lost  to  it  by 
this  attempt  to  vilify  its  secretary,  and  helpers  and 


2Et.  48]     THE  NEWSBOYS'  LODGING-HOUSE  337 

contributors  were  only  the  more  active.  The  open- 
ing, at  this  time,  of  the  great  Newsboys'  Lodging- 
House,  so  long  labored  for,  was  the  occasion  of  an 
ovation  to  Mr.  Brace,  his  friends  from  the  country  as 
well  as  town  coming  to  swell  the  meeting. 

Sympathy  from  many  sources  was  not  lacking,  and 
we  insert  here  a  letter  from  one  who,  for  more  than 
thirty  years,  never  stinted  his  loving  words  of  en- 
couragement :  — 

"I  thank  you  heartily  for  your  birthday  note," 
Mr.  Howard  Potter  writes  on  June  19,  1874,  "and 
wish  you  many  happy  returns  of  this  day,  which  I 
am  sure  you  will  never  have  cause  to  regret,  and 
which  thousands  may,  and  do,  bless.  You  do  well  to 
be  grateful  that  God  has  given  it  to  you  to  live  the 
life  you  have  —  in  every  aspect  of  it  one  for  which 
the  world  also  may  be  grateful.  It  is  not  given  to 
many  to  be  a  pioneer  in  such  a  march  as  you  are 
leading,  and  if  now  and  then  the  way  is  rough  and 
thorny  and  noisome,  it  is  part  of  the  honor  of  the 
position  that  it  should  be  so.  After  all,  too,  it  is 
only  for  a  little  while,  and  then  will  come  —  who 
can  say  what  of  rest  and  peace  and  high  enjoyment? 
'It  hath  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  con- 
ceive what  God  hath  prepared.'  .  .  .  Yoii  will 
never  know,  let  me  say  in  return,  what  a  help  you 
are,  spiritually,  to  other  men,  with  some  of  whom 
you  never  come  in  personal  contact  at  all,  or  but 
very  rarely.     But  —  'to  God  only  thanks.'  ..." 

On  June  28, 1874,  he  writes  to  Miss  G.  Schuyler:  — 


338  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1874 

"...  We  have  had  a  season  of  glorious  beauty. 
Tlie  river  to-day  has  a  glory  about  it  that  you  know 
well;  breezy  leafage  and  long  perspectives,  green 
everywhere,  and  the  white  sails  gleaming  over  the 
water.  To-day  is  almost  the  first  hot  day.  We  had 
a  grand  celebration  of  the  birthday  (19th)  in  a 
picnic.  .  .  .  How  very  earnest  life  seems  as  we  get 
nearer  the  sunset.  How  we  peer  into  the  misty  sea, 
and  how  we  want  to  do  the  work  before  the  night 
cometh.  My  life  has  been  exceptionally  happy, 
especially  in  my  profession  and  home  enjoyments. 
By  the  way,  that  '  storm  of  scandal '  seems  not  to 
have  strained  our  craft  the  least.  The  public  trust 
us  as  much  as  ever.  .  .  .  Our  '  summer  retreat  for 
poor  children  '  is  bountifully  supported.  .  .  .  What 
would  you  think  of  a '  children's  summer  hospital?  '  " 

Mr.  Brace's  reference  to  the  summer  retreat  for 
poor  children  relates  to  a  house  opened  during 
this  summer  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Children's  Aid  Society's  schools  a 
taste  of  country  life.  Previous  to  this,  there  had 
been  a  sort  of  desultory  attempt  made  by  the  society 
and  also  by  the  "New  York  Times,"  to  give  the 
children  some  experience  of  the  country,  but  as  this 
meant  only  a  picnic  or  river  excursion,  the  trip, 
delightful  as  it  was,  did  not  affect  the  health  of  the 
children.  The  plan,  made  practicable  through  the 
co-operation  of  a  kind  friend  of  the  society  who 
rented  a  villa  on  Staten  Island  for  the  purpose,  was 


^T.  48]  THE   SUMMER   HOME  339 

to  give  for  a  week  the  benefit  of  sea  air,  fresh  milk, 
and  good  fare  to  the  little  children  of  the  tenement 
districts.  This  first  experiment  proved  so  success- 
ful that  the  next  year  a  house  was  permanently- 
rented,  and  the  children's  summer  home  at  Bath 
Beach  became  a  regular  institution,  carrying  on  its 
sweet  and  healthful  influences  every  summer.  Mr. 
Brace  was  never  happier  than  at  this  lovely  spot, 
where  he  sat  in  the  summer  twilight  on  the  veranda, 
looking  out  over  the  beautiful  lower  bay,  and  heard 
the  children  sing  their  hymns  before  they  marched 
in  single  file  to  their  little  white  beds.  He  tells 
us  what  a  delight  the  sea-bathing  was  to  them,  and 
above  all  the  sight  of  the  "sounding  sea."  It  was 
noticed,  he  says,  that  all  were  suddenly  silent  and 
almost  reverent  at  the  first  view  of  the  great  ocean. 

In  his  private  reading,  the  study  of  Mill's  phi- 
losophy continued  to  absorb  many  of  Mr.  Brace's 
leisure  hours,  as  the  two  letters  following,  which 
close  the  year  of  1874,  reveal. 

To  Dr.  Howard.^ 

Hastings,  Nov.  6,  1874. 
My  dear  George ;  .   .   .  I  enclose  a  scrap  of  Mill's 
new  book.     Since  that  I  have  seen  another  express- 

1  Dr.  G.  A.  Howard,  a  theological  fellow-student  in  New  Haven 
and  life-long  friend  of  Mr.  Brace. 


340  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1874 

ing   the   highest   appreciation   of    the    character   of 
Christ.     I  have  never  been  able  to  understand  why 
the    philosophical   sceptics    should   not   admire  and 
extol  Christ  to  the  highest,  even  supposing  Him  only 
a  sublime  mystic   and  wonderful   Reformer.      Mill 
says    that  philosophy  could  not  render  the  abstract 
law  of  virtue  into  the  concrete  better  than  by  saying, 
Live  after  Christ !     That  idea  of  a  God  who  is  be- 
nevolent but  not  omnipotent  is   ingenious  and  has 
much  to  be  said  for  it  —  except  that  then  there  might 
be  a  more  powerful  spirit  —  or  certainly  more  power- 
ful forces.     We  can  only  say  we  are  lost  in  the  infi- 
nite, and  see  enough  to  guide  faith,  but  not  enough 
for  absolute  science.     In  a  garment  covering  eternal 
time,  we  see  only  two  or  three  threads  of  one  portion 
of  a  figure  or  plan.     It  is  certainly  possible  to  con- 
ceive a  better  world  even  with  a  free  agency;  but 
give   us    immortality,  and   the  worst   evils   may  be 
explained,  or  at  least  compensated  for.   ...     I  am 
in  splendid  trim  for  working.     We  have  our  annual 
meeting  soon.     A  great  year's  work. 


From  Dr.  Asa  Gray. 

Cambkidge,  Dec.  16,  1874. 
Dear  Brace:  Thanks  for  "Times."  Your  article 
is  excellent,  and  you  well  know  I  am  not  apt  to  over- 
praise. It  is  a  good  turning  of  Mill's  position,  and 
a  showing  that  Darwinism  reconciles  many  things 
in  nature  to  Theism  better  than  more  orthodox  con- 
ceptions. 

But  the  deep  difficulties,  Mill  would  say,  are  only 


Mt.48-]  the  existence  OF  EVIL  341 

shifted.  What  troubles  him  is  the  existence  and 
allowance  of  evil,  and  that  is,  as  yet,  insoluble. 
Mill  sa3^s  it  argues  a  God  whose  benevolence  or 
whose  power  is  limited.  You  imply  that  it  is  in- 
cidental to  a  system,  which  is  as  good,  on  the  whole, 
as  can  be  under  the  system, —  or  as  could  be  under 
any  sj-stem  3'ou  can  think  of,  in  the  long  run, —  but 
which  requires  an  immensely  long  run  to  manifest 
itself. 

Do  you  not  imply  the  limitation  which  Mill 
asserts?  And  how  about  .  .  .  and  [being]  shaken 
into  dreamy  unconsciousness  (like  Livingstone  under 
the  lion)  ?  Your  surviving  friends  might  praise  the 
benevolence  of  the  arrangement.  Would  it  not  be 
natural  for  Mill  to  say  that  the  absence  of  any  con- 
trivance for  avoiding  the  torture  was  an  argument 
for  the  absence  of  benevolence  ?  Would  you  satisfy 
him  by  rejoining  that  such  painful  sights  stimulated 
the  survivors  to  greater  caution  or  activity  or  skill, 
and  so  educated  the  race,  so  that  some  future  gen- 
eration were  merely  less  likely  to  suffer  in  that  way  ? 


CHAPTER  XI 

Mr.  Brace's  New  House  —  Life  in  the  Woods  —  Charges  against 
Children's  Aid  Society  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  To  a  Young 
Man  on  Faith  —  On  the  Strikes  —  Study  and  Work  —  Free 
Trade  —  Miscellaneous  Letters  —  Correspondence  about  his  com- 
ing Book  —  Death  of  his  Brother  —  Trip  Abroad —  Society  De- 
tails —  Death  of  Mr.  Macy 

Mr.  Brace  had  been,  throughout  the  preceding 
autumn,  exploring  the  hills  about  Hastings  and 
northwards,  with  reference  to  a  proposed  site  for  a 
house,  and  in  January,  1875,  wrote:  "...  We 
have  bought  our  site !  A  most  lovely  spot  of  three 
acres,  with  a  superb  view,  at  Dobbs  Ferry,  some 
chestnut-trees,  and  everything  nice  around  it.  One 
of  the  best  sites  on  the  river.  Shall  begin  to  build 
in  spring.  Give  us  ideas  and  plans,  etc.,  etc.  We 
are  all  '  house  '  now."  Mrs.  Brace  used  to  sa}^  that 
never  before  had  she  been  able  to  bring  Mr.  Brace 
to  talk  of  his  own  affairs.  But  the  building  fever 
took  possession  of  him  now,  and  "talking  house" 
was  his  greatest  delight.  Building  began  in  the 
spring,  and  the  family  moved  into  their  new  home 
at  the  end  of  the  following  winter. 

The  letters  of  this  winter  and  spring  are  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

342 


^T.  48]  LIFE  AT   HOME  343 

To  Miss  Bora  Neill. 

Hastings,  Jan.  17,  1875. 

My  dear  Dora :  I  hope  you  never  measure  our 
affection  here  by  our  correspondence.  We  all  hold 
you  ever  near  the  heart,  and  wish  we  could  see  more 
of  you.  There  are  so  many  things  I  should  like  to 
speak  on  with  you.  But  letters  are  nothing.  We 
move  steadily  on  in  the  old  path, —  a  very  sweet  and 
interesting  one.  The  family  growing  up  and  becom- 
ing more  attractive  and  absorbing,  the  work  increas- 
ing and  succeeding,  knowledge  and  wisdom  growing, 
friendship  warmer  and  more  settled,  nature  more 
beautiful,  and  the  solemn  view  into  the  great  unseen 
becoming  nearer  and  closer.  Life  settling  itself 
and  gathering  its  garments  for  the  grand  departure, 
friends  slipping  away  into  the  unseen,  old  age  com- 
ing visibly  on  many,  fires  of  youth  cooling,  and  the 
drift  of  the  age  towards  doubt  and  denial  more  clear 
and  sometimes  depressing,  and  yet  hope,  freshness, 
and  spring  still.  My  work  now  begins  to  bring  its 
great  reward. 

Just  now,  in  every-day  life  we  are  all  absorbed  in 
house,  and  an  awful  puzzle  it  is;  little  money  and 
much  taste,  and  not  much  talent  to  use.  We  have 
a  superb  site,  but  cold. 

To  A.  E.  Barnes.^ 

Hastings,  May  16,  1875. 
My  dear  Barnes :  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  felt 
free  from  anxiety  for  six  months.     You  see  we  are 

1  Mr.  A.  H.  Barnes  of  Philadelphia,  a  college  friend  of  Mr.  Brace. 


344  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1875 

a  very  large  affair,  expending  some  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  per  annum,  so  that  some  one  is 
always  after  us.  Just  now  it  was  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics, who  were  trying  to  cut  us  off  from  the  school 
fund,  and  then  it  is  the  ultra-Protestants  who  are 
opposed  to  all  public  grants,  so  that  just  one-half  of 
our  income  (one  hundred  thousand  dollars)  has  been 
in  danger.  Now  all  is  right,  and  will  continue  so 
till  the  legislature  meets  again.  Then,  during  April, 
I  had  feverish  symptoms  and  was  not  well.  My 
house,  too,  is  a  problem.  Estimates  not  all  in,  but  I 
fear  they  will  come  up  to  twelve  thousand  dollars. 
We  have  already  begun  to  plant  trees.  The  site  is 
wonderful.     My  "elevation"  is  very  pretty. 


To  Dr.  Howard. 

Hastings,  July  25,  1875. 
Dear   Greorge:  .   .   .     Why  not  come  to  the  Lake 
where  all  is  placid?     I  depart  to  the  waters  of  peace 
on  Monday  evening.   ...     I  have  looked  out  of  my 
new  attic-windows  —  superb ! 

No  biography  of  him  could  be  complete  which 
omitted  to  dwell  with  some  emphasis  uj)on  the 
inspiration  he  drew  from  these  quiet  scenes.  It 
was  here  that  he  found  strength  and  peace  for  the 
harrowing  and  absorbing  duties  in  the  busy  world 
in  which  he  lived  and  worked. 

After  having  explored  thoroughly  various  parts  of 
the  Adirondack  region  for  many  years,  Mr.   Brace 


^T.  49]  LIFE  IN  THE  WOODS  345 

settled,  in  1870,  at  Lake  Placid,  and  began  then  a 
summer  life  continued  for  fifteen  years,  full  of  rest 
and  refreshment  to  him.  A  tent  was  pitched  on  an 
island  in  the  lake,  and  was  occasionally  the  scene 
of  a  supper-party  around  the  camp-fire,  or  a  gather- 
ing-place for  an  afternoon  of  reading  aloud,  making 
also  a  charming  spot  for  the  little  Sunday  religious 
service  which  took  the  place  of  church  in  those  early 
days.  A  background  of  evergreens  and  forest  trees ; 
about  the  tent  little  aspens  tliat,  no  matter  how 
motionless  the  air  seemed,  were  always  quivering  and 
dancing;  above,  the  drifting  mountain  clouds;  and 
beyond,  with  the  clear  lake  stretching  to  its  foot,  the 
glory  of  the  scene,  Whiteface  Mountain,  —  all  this 
was  the  "church,"  and  here  "Bushnell's  Sermons," 
"The  Scotch  Sermons,"  Martineau's  prayers,  or  the 
"  Prayers  of  the  Ages  "  were  read  by  Mr.  Brace 
every  fine  Sunday  morning,  to  his  family  and  friends. 
His  days  passed  in  much  the  same  methodical 
fashion  as  at  home,  —  for  such  was  his  nature  that 
he  preferred  a  habit  in  everything.  The  mornings 
were  sjDent  in  study  and  writing,  the  latter  being 
either  on  some  private  study  or  for  the  "  New  York 
Times,"  to  which  he  contributed  in  the  summer  as 
well  as  in  the  winter.  A  swim  in  the  clear  lake 
was  his  delight,  after  a  morning  of  work,  and  then 
the  afternoons  were  given  to  rowing  Mrs.  Brace 
around  the  enchanting  shores,   to   the   little  spots 


346  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1875 

he  knew  so  well  where  the  trout  hid,  and  casting 
his  fly  there. 

Cloudy  or  showery  weather  did  not  keep  them 
away,  and  there,  almost  every  day,  they  were  to  be 
found,  Mrs.  Brace  occasionally  reading  aloud  some 
quiet  book,  generally  about  nature ;  although  oftener 
they  dreamed  the  afternoon  away  in  silence.  Occa- 
sionally a  friend  accompanied  them  on  these  little 
expeditions,  so  precious  to  them  both.  No  smiles  of 
children  or  friends,  as  he  and  Mrs.  Brace  returned 
home  at  twilight,  with  sometimes  a  very  small 
string  of  very  small  trout,  discouraged  the  devoted 
fisherman,  though  he  used  to  confess  that  watching 
the  shadows  creeping  over  the  hills  as  the  afternoon 
wore  on,  did  add  to  the  fisherman's  pleasure!  So 
August  slipped  away,  and  the  opening  of  the  schools 
of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  called  him  back  to 
questions  of  organization  and  money  to  be  found 
and  reports  to  be  written.  And  yet  "called  him 
back"  is  hardly  the  word;  for  his  exuberant  energy 
could  not  have  rested,  even  in  that  placid  scene  of 
beauty,  longer  than  the  long  summer  days  lasted. 
Of  his  summer  reading  and  writing,  he  says  to 
Dr.  Howard :  " .  .  .1  have  done  much  writing  and 
studying ;  a  review  of  Renan  for  '  Times  '  and  for 
'  Christian  Union, '  and  one  of  Dr.  Gray  for  '  Times, ' 
and  editorials.  We  are  greatly  interested  now  in 
Taine's   'Ancien  Regime.'     Do  read  it,  and   Gray's 


^T.  49]         NATIONAL  PRISON  CONGRESS  347 

'Darwiniana. '  The  Doctor  has  one  of  the  clearest 
brains,  and  shows  the  harmony  of  theism  and  Dar- 
winism. Taine's  picture  is  awful,  though  badly 
drawn." 

In  the  spring  of  1876,  a  National  Prison  Congress 
was  held  in  New  York,  at  which  two  or  three 
Western  members  asserted  that  the  homeless  chil- 
dren sent  out  to  the  West  by  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  of  New  York,  were  "crowding  the  Western 
prisons  and  reformatories."  The  society  assured  the 
members  of  the  congress  that  this  information  did 
not  correspond  with  their  own,  and  that  it  must  be 
remembered  tliat,  in  proportion  to  the  vast  number 
sent  out,  a  small  percentage  of  failures  might  seem 
formidable.  One  of  the  complaints  —  that  the  older 
lads  changed  places  often  —  was,  unfortunately, 
quite  justified.  It  is  an  unavoidable  result  of  a 
prosperous  condition  of  the  laboring  classes,  Mr. 
Brace  says ;  but  much  ingenuity  was  shown  on  the 
part  of  the  employers,  in  identifying  the  boys  with 
the  life  of  the  farm,  and  giving  them  a  permanent 
interest  in  it  and  the  family,  through  small  gifts, 
such  as  a  calf  or  pony  or  piece  of  land.  But  as  to 
charges  of  a  more  serious  character,  such  as  that  the 
boys  were  so  bad  as  to  be  confined  in  the  prisons, 
etc.,  their  complete  refutation  was  a  triumph  for  the 
society.     Immediately  upon  the  adjournment  of  the 


348  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1876 

congress,  one  of  the  experienced  Western  agents 
was  sent  to  thoroughly  examine  the  prisons,  houses 
of  refuge,  and  refoi^matories  of  the  three  States 
especially  indicated,  —  Michigan,  Illinois,  and  Indi- 
ana. It  was  then  found  that  in  Michigan  and  Illi- 
nois, where  ten  thousand  children  had  been  sent, 
not  a  single  boy  or  girl  from  the  society  could  be 
found  in  all  their  prisons  and  reformatories!  The 
report  from  Indiana  was  almost  as  cheering. 

Another  source  of  anxiety  to  the  society  during 
this  and  the  preceding  year,  and  the  cause  of  almost 
annual  visits  to  Albany  by  Mr.  Brace  when  the 
legislature  was  in  session,  was  a  proposed  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution,  cutting  off  from  the 
"school  fund"  all  schools  "not  ivholly  under  the 
control  and  supervision  and  in  charge  of  the  public 
school  authorities."  But  the  amendment  did  not 
pass,  "perhaps  from  a  conviction  in  the  legislature 
that  these  schools  for  the  poor  children  were  a 
necessary  part  of  the  public  school  system."  It  was 
a  relief  to  the  society  when  this  anxiety  was  finally 
removed  in  1878,  and  the  schools  were  then  put  more 
thoroughly  under  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  had  annual  careful  examinations  from  as- 
sistant superintendents,  and  conformed  to  their  rules. 

The  new  house  at  Dobbs  Ferry  was  finished  in 
February,  and  in  March  the  family  moved  into  it. 


^T.  50]       NEW  HOUSE   AT   DOBBS   FERRY  349 

The  spring  was  very  beautiful,  and  Mr.  Brace  kept 
the  house  full  of  guests,  delighting  to  receive  his 
friends  under  his  own  roof-tree.  Miss  Georgina 
Schuyler  had  said  in  a  letter  of  congratulation :  "  I 
can  fancy  the  coming  and  going,  and  the  unfailing 
hospitality  and  kindness,  and  the  refreshment  and 
recreation  given  to  man)'-  weary  souls  who  will  find 
their  way  to  your  home."  And  so  it  was.  Among 
his  chosen  guests  through  these  years  of  abounding 
health  and  vitality,  were  teachers  from  the  schools 
and  his  other  friends  among  the  employees  of  the 
society.  It  was  his  habit  to  bring  some  one  of  them 
home  with  him  on  an  occasional  Friday  evening, 
and  the  visit  commonly  included  Saturday.  For 
the  teachers  it  was  a  day  of  rest  in  the  country, 
cheered  by  the  influence  of  his  gentle  and  exhil- 
arating companionship,  and  well  calculated  to 
strengthen  and  renew  the  interest  in  their  work; 
and  for  him  it  was  of  real  value  to  have  this 
opportunity  to  learn  to  know  better  his  faithful 
co-laborers. 

The  birthday  season,  always  one  of  solemnity  to 
him,  had  come  again,  and  he  writes  of  it  to  a  friend 
as  follows :  — 

DoBBS  Ferrt,  June  18,  1876. 
My  dear  Friend :  To-morrow  is  my  birthday,   and 
I  always  think  of  you  then,  partl}^  because  you  have 
about  the  same  age,  and  more  because  I  know  you 


350  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1876 

understand  the  religious  thoughts  of  such  times. 
How  near  we  seem  now  to  the  great  Unknown,  and 
how  glorious  that  life  with  God  and  Christ  seems, 
those  unseen  and  unimaginable  activities  and  expe- 
riences in  the  spiritual  life !  But  the  solemn  thought 
is  that  we  have  so  few  years  now  for  Christ's  service, 
and  the  leaving  the  influence  for  humanity  which 
we  so  much  desire.  How  earnest  and  busy  should 
the  remaining  days  be,  and  how  much  higher  ought 
we  to  rise  in  the  life  with  Christ  on  earth!  Then 
me  an  inexhaustible  thirst  for  knowledge  consumes, 
and  I  regret  so  that  time  is  so  short,  and  my  life 
necessarily  practical.  In  all  effort  for  Christian  life, 
I  am  always  so  encouraged  and  strengthened  by  you, 
and  the  thought  of  your  unshaken  faith  and  Christian 
purpose,  and  how  much  you  are  doing  and  thinking 
for  all  good  things.  Your  faith  should  be  a  light  to 
us  all.  With  both  of  us,  I  suppose  our  best  channels 
for  public  usefulness  will  be  in  the  lines  of  our 
Children's  Aid  Society,  and  that  we  must  imj)rove 
and  more  firmly  found.  You  have  been  one  of  its 
strongest  pillars.  Probably  our  deepest  influence  is 
with  our  children,  though  we  see  little  of  it.  But 
how  much  deeper  is  the  mother's !  .  .  .  The  years 
now  put  us  among  the  "old  men,"  and  yet  the  tides 
of  life  are  as  fresh  in  our  veins  as  fifteen  years  ago. 
May  the  few  coming  years  ripen  into  a  rich  harvest, 
whatever  Christ's  spirit  has  planted  in  us.  And 
may  they  not  lessen  your  friendship  or  weaken  your 
regard. 

The  death  of  Mrs.  W.,  a  friend  very  dear  to  him, 
called  forth  the  next  letter  below :  — 


^T.  50]     LETTER  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  A  FRIEND    351 

To  a  Friend. 

Ches-kxoll,  Dec.  10,  1876. 
My  dear  Miss  M — ;  .  .  .  A  year  ago,  I  should 
have  said  her  chances  for  life  were  as  good  as  yours 
or  any  one's.  She  had  the  most  abounding  vitality 
and  richness  of  life,  with  the  temperament  of  a 
genius,  so  that  it  seems  utterly  impossible  she  can 
be  dead.  .  .  .  The  death  leaves  a  fearful  gap  with 
so  many  people,  and  especially  with  us.  She  brought 
us  the  musical  ideal  and  the  freshness  of  young  life, 
and  we  gave  her  the  sympathy  of  kindred.  She  so 
thoroughly  enjoyed  our  home  and  home  life,  and  had 
such  rest  here  and  deep  content.  ...  It  is  very 
hard  to  think  it  is  all  over.  And  yet  how  little  one 
does  for  one's  friends!  We  ought  to  treat  them  as 
if  every  visit  were  the  last.  It  is  difficult  to  always 
keep  this  high  standard.  I  feel  a  certain  elation  in 
thinking  of  her  higher  life,  though  I  have  no  doubt 
she,  like  us  all,  must  pass  through  discipline  yet 
before  perfection.  There  is  something  sad,  in  one 
aspect,  in  life's  running  on  so  indifferently  while 
such  tragedies  occur,  —  that  we  can  eat  and  drink 
and  sleep  as  usual,  and  go  about  our  business,  while 
our  dear  one's  body  lies  under  the  winter's  snow. 
But  friendship  is  in  the  heart,  and  what  has  been 
done  and  felt,  and  the  hopes.  I  pray  continually 
that  I  may  meet  her  in  the  heavenly  morning,  and 
I  can  fancy  that  she  will  convey  to  us  there  purer 
harmonies  than  she  ever  did  here,  and  we  will  give 
her  truer  sympathies.  For  we  who  believe  in  Plato 
believe  that  music  is  in  the  soul,  not  the  pulsations 


352  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1877 

of  the  air;  and  as  she  seemed  here  to  lead  our  natures 
into  higher  regions  of  the  ideal,  so,  more,  will  she  do 
so  there.  How  little  a  woman  (who  has  not  the  cre- 
ative faculty)  seems  to  leave  behind  her,  except  on 
her  children  or  her  friends.  No  influence  is  left 
behind  like  that  upon  children.  But  she  may  be  so 
constituted  or  placed  as  to  leave  friends,  to  whom 
her  memory  is  a  continual  inspiration,  and  who  will 
themselves  lie  in  the  coffin  before  they  forget  her  or 
cease  to  be  moved  by  her.  "  To  live  so  that  in  ceasing 
to  live  one  does  not  cease  to  be  loved,"  —  that  was 
true  of  S.     God  bless  her! 

In  the  course  of  this  summer  he  writes :  "  I  have 
answered,  in  French,  a  letter  from  Naples  asking 
how  to  found  a  newsbo3^s'  lodging-house  there. 
And  Mr.  Macy  has  sent  documents !  " 

To  a  young  man  in  difficulties  about  his  religious 
faith :  — 

Ches-knoll,  March  10,  1877. 

My  dear ;  .   .   .     As  a  general  thing,  religion 

comes  home  to  a  man  just  after  escaping  great  temp- 
tation, or  in  a  deep  trouble,  or  in  some  of  the  most 
trying  events  of  life.  You  see,  it  fits  the  wants  of 
his  soul.  It  often  answers  his  intuitions,  and  proves 
itself  to  him.  There  are  moments  when  a  man  feels 
like  one  weak  and  ill  in  a  canoe,  going  down  a  tre- 
mendous rapid.  He  can  only  look  above  and  trust. 
The  inevitable  sorrows  of  life  teach  us  much  of  God. 
But  I  have  also  reached  my  position  by  reason. 
Whatever  the  view  of  the  universe,  we  must  come 


^T.  50]     ARGUMENTS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  FAITH     353 

back  to  the  ever-balancing  probability  of  an  Existence 
originating  it,  corresponding  to  us  in  intelligence 
and  moral  powers.  What  other  faculties  or  powers 
He  may  have  we  know  not,  but  plainly  this  is  a 
moral  system,  where  the  tendency  to  selfishness  is 
also  to  unhappiness,  and  this  could  not  come  by 
differentiation ;  and  we  may  reasonably  conclude  that 
the  author  of  this  system  has  the  same  drift,  or  reason 
from  this  to  Him  (or  "It,"  if  you  choose).  This  is 
fair  and  logical,  — i.e.  the  tendencies  of  things  teach 
that  selfishness  brings  unhaj)piness,  therefore  the  law 
of  the  moral  universe  is  unselfishness  or  benevolence, 
and  the  originator  of  it  must  be  guided  by  the  same 
law.  Now  there  comes  also  to  many  minds  an  intui- 
tion of  such  an  Existence,  which  strengthens  the 
inference,  —  that  is,  of  a  perfect  moral  being.  But 
here,  to  my  mind,  comes  in  an  historical  help.  A 
character  appears  in  an  obscure  tribe,  for  whom  is  no 
historical  or  philosophical  development.  He  repre- 
sents the  highest  moral  ideas,  to  which  all  succeeding 
ages  have  never  reached ;  he  leads  an  ideally  perfect 
and  pure  life ;  he  claims  to  be  the  especial  manifesta- 
tion or  organ  of  this  unknown  Author  of  the  uni- 
verse; he  seems  thoroughly  honest  and  unselfish. 
He  may  be  mistaken  and  self-deceived,  but  there  is 
nothing  to  show  this.  All  the  best  things  in  the 
world  since  have  come  from  him.  His  life  and 
death  seem  in  harmony  with  that  moral  drift  of  the 
universe  I  have  spoken  of.  Therefore  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  him.  And  when  he  tells  me  of  things  I 
could  not  know,  but  against  which  I  know  nothing, 
like  future  life  and  judgment,  I  accept  them.  And 
when  I  find  that  his  commands  (supposing  we  get 

2a 


354  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1877 

them  correctly)  are  in  harmony  with,  or  beyond  all 
one  knows  of  the  moral  principles  of  the  universe, 
I  am  the  more  ready  to  obey  them.  And  obeying 
("becoming  a  Christian"),  and  finding  myself  hap- 
pier than  I  ever  could  be  otherwise,  and  that  my  drift 
is  to  make  others  happier,  I  the  more  believe  his 
words,  and  in  my  first  inference,  and  my  intuition 
of  a  perfect  moral  being.  And  you  see  this  makes 
a  logical  structure,  but  strengthened  by  experience 
and  by  intuition ;  and  this,  whatever  your  exact  con- 
ception of  this  extraordinary  character  be,  whether 
he  be  only  a  wise  peasant,  or  a  prophet,  or  a  super- 
human being,  or  a  peculiar  divine  manifestation  (as 
I  believe).  Of  course,  the  latter  view  is  more  in 
harmony  with  my  conclusions,  and,  as  I  think,  with 
facts.  There  is  nothing,  of  course,  in  science  or 
philosophy  to  refute  them.  They  are  all  merely 
the  result  of  a  balance  of  probabilities.  But  then 
experience  and  intuition  confirm  them.  It  would 
be  an  immeasurable  calamity  for  you  to  float  off  on 
the  stream  of  life  without  this  rudder.  "Do  His 
will,  and  you  will  know  of  the  doctrine,"  is  worth 
trying.  Belief  will  come  with  an  unselfish  and 
devout  life.  As  to  your  companions,  remember  that 
they  belong  to  the  Come-outers.  Others  are  different. 
Still  truth  first;  may  God  guide  you  into  it! 

The  peaceful  life  at  Lake  Placid  was  "deeply 
disturbed"  for  him,  he  says,  by  the  strikes  during 
the  summer  of  1877. 

"There  is  something  always  impressive,"  he 
writes  to  Miss  G.  Schuyler,  "  in  these  blind,  passion- 


^T.  51]       STRIKES   AND   PROFIT-SHARING  355 

ate  movements  of  the  laboring  classes  for  a  larger 
share  of  the  goods  of  life.  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  mob 
or  commune-spirit  in  this  country.  The  one  we  can 
put  down,  and  the  other  our  free  land  saves  us  from. 
But  strikes  on  this  gigantic  scale  are  a  new  develojD- 
ment,  and  will  be  imitated  all  over  the  Avorld. 
They  ought  not  to  occur  here.  They  show  that 
high  tariff  legislation  has  attracted  masses  of  work- 
men to  branches  of  production  which  have  not  paid 
well.  And  they  show  fearful  divisions  between 
capital  and  labor,  very  threatening  to  our  future. 
The  only  remedies  are  the  formation  of  Courts  of 
Arbitration  for  strikes  (as  Mundella  has  established 
in  England),  and  an  approach  to  'co-operation,'  and 
the  leaving  capital  more  and  more  to  'natural  laws.' 
The  gradual  settlement  of  values  is  going  to  bring 
about  many  such  outbreaks.  The  great  problem  of 
the  future  is  the  equal  distribution  of  wealth,  or  of 
the  profits  of  labor  (under  the  guidance  of  brains). 
I  believe  myself  that,  in  general,  the  laboring 
classes  do  not  receive  their  fair  share.  Strikes  are 
one  of  their  means  of  getting  more.   ..." 

We  quote  here  a  passage  from  a  paper  on  "Profit- 
sharing,"  written  presumably  at  about  this  time :  — 

"  If  industrial  society  ever  rises  to  the  Christian 
ideal,  it  will  be  under  some  form  of  co-operation 
between  labor  and  capital.  .  .  .  The  great  benefactor 
of  the  laboring  classes  of  America  yet  remains  to 
appear,  who  shall  contrive  a  plan  of  organization  in 
manufacture,  Avhereby  the  laborers  shall  have  a  pe- 
cuniary interest  in  the  profits  of  production  beyond 


356  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1878 

their  wages,  and  shall  thus  do  their  work  thoroughly 
and  contentedly,  bearing  the  dull  times  with  their 
masters,  and  enjoying  with  them  the  prosperity  of  the 
good  times;  having  thus  the  virtues  of  both  classes." 

Another  sorrow  had  overtaken  him  and  a  great 
circle  of  friends,  in  the  death  of  Mr.  John  E. 
Williams,  the  devoted  treasurer  of  the  society.  He 
had  for  over  twenty  years  shown  the  largest-hearted 
sympathy  for  poor  children,  and  served  their  inter- 
ests faithfully,  and  Mr.  Brace  tells  how  touching 
and  characteristic  it  was  that  in  his  last  moments 
of  consciousness  he  reverted  with  such  pleasure  to 
the  thought  of  these  labors  of  love.  He  had  hoped 
to  write  one  more  report,  which  would  have  filled 
out  the  twenty-five  years  of  the  life  of  the  society. 
"  But  it  was  not  to  be.  He  has  reported  to  higher 
authority,  and  received  nobler  gratulations  than  we 
can  offer."  At  Mr.  Williams's  wish,  as  well  as  at 
the  wish  of  the  Board,  Mr.  George  S.  Coe  was 
appointed  his  successsor.  The  following  letter, 
besides  its  general  interest,  reveals  Mr.  Brace's 
satisfaction  at  the  condition  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  at  the  close  of  twenty-five  years :  — 

To  Dr.  Howard. 

Ches-knoll,  Oct.  20,  1878. 
Dear  Greorge :  The  beautiful  autumn  is  passing  off 
charmingly  with  us.     We  have  a  houseful.  .  .   .     My 


^T.  52]  DEAN  STANLEY  867 

work  has  opened  with  the  usual  interest,  and  we  are 
going  to  make  a  grand  effort  to  rebuild  the  Rivington 
Street  Lodging-house.  We  finish  our  twenty-five 
years  with  the  Children's  Aid  Society  on  November 
1st,  — and  I  think  will  be  out  of  debt!  (In  1870  we 
had  a  debt  of  ninety  thousand  dollars  on  the  news- 
boys' [lodging-house]  !)  I  am  deeply  interested  in 
my  study,  it  opens  richer  all  the  time.  I  have  been 
lately  on  the  Anglo-Saxon  Law,  and  the  effect  of 
Chi-istianity  thereon.  How  wide  the  gap  between 
Christ  and  the  historical  Church! 

We  had  some  charming  times  on  the  river  with 
Dean  Stanley.  He  said  to  me  many  good  things. 
He  doesn't  like  Gladstone  (a  pity !).  "  He  is  like  the 
god  in  the  Greek  fable  who  had  two  steeds  to  his 
chariot,  one  beautiful,  swift,  and  of  the  immortals, 
and  the  other  a  common  hack."  We  spoke  of  his 
chapter  on  Socrates ;  he  said  the  Greek  Kingdom,  as 
soon  as  it  was  organized,  passed  one  of  its  first  laws, 
ordering  the  sentence  on  Socrates  to  be  expunged 
from  the  Statute  Book!  Bishop  Thirlwall  once  gave 
a  dinner  to  some  savants,  and  they  expected  a  certain 
German  professor  (Nordkommer)  would  be  invited. 
On  being  asked  why  he  left  him  oiit,  he  said  he 
would  not  have  a  man  under  his  roof  who  justified 
the  condemnation  of  Socrates!  He  says  the  only 
record  of  Washington  in  the  Abbey  is  on  the  monu- 
ment to  Andr(^ !  He  himself  restored  the  tablets  to 
Cromwell  and  his  family,  torn  down  under  the  Resto- 
ration. He  hates  Mallock,  and  don't  like  the  hits  at 
Jowett  in  the  "New  Republic." 


358  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1878 

In  the  letter  above,  Mr.  Brace  speaks  of  the  study 
which  has  begun  to  absorb  him.  He  had  decided 
to  publish  the  result  of  his  investigations  on  the 
subject  of  the  influence  of  Christianity  on  the 
world's  progress  in  morals,  and  was  preparing  for 
a  course  of  research  to  continue  for  some  years. 
His  spare  moments  were  eagerly  seized,  but  his 
only  times  for  work  were  his  Saturday  mornings  at 
home,  and  an  occasional  quiet  half  hour  in  an  alcove 
of  the  Astor  Library.  In  a  letter  written  a  year 
or  two  later,  while  he  was  still  using  moments  he 
could  snatch  from  business  for  this  fascinating 
study,  he  speaks  of  the  power  he  has  of  turning 
from  one  thing  to  another.  This  power  was  his  to 
an  unusual  degree.  After  a  busy  morning  in  his 
office,  with  a  hundred  different  distracting  claims 
on  his  attention  and  judgment,  he  was  able  to  turn 
the  whole  tenor  of  his  thoughts,  seek  a  quiet  corner 
in  the  Astor  Library,  gather  about  him  books  on 
international  law,  chivalry,  the  duel,  or  on  some 
kindred  subject,  and  the  lines  would  gradually  dis- 
appear from  his  forehead,  and  the  annoyances  of  life 
be  completely  forgotten. 

A  visit  to  Cambridge  during  this  winter  gives 
him  opportunity  to  consulu  Dr.  Gray  concerning  the 
chief  objections  which  must  be  met  in  his  book. 
He  writes  of  it  thus  to  Dr.  Howard :  — 


Mt.  52]      PREPARATIONS   FOR  NEW  BOOK  359 

"  I  have  had  much  talk  with  Dr.  Gray  on  my  theme. 
He  put  himself  in  the  position  of  a  sceptical  objector, 
which  was  just  what  I  needed.  He  says  the  most 
prevalent  objection  to  be  removed  or  met,  is  the  belief 
that  our  whole  religious  system  of  ideas  (Christianity 
and  all)  is  only  a  mode  of  looking  at  the  jihenomena 
of  the  universe,  and  that  all  the  hopes  and  faith  are 
only  illusions  of  the  race.  Mine  hardly  touches 
this,  excejjt  as  furnishing  one  solid  basis  —  the  moral 
power  of  Christianity,  what  it  has  done,  and  what 
it  is  capable  of  doing,  and  that  this  power  is  not  to 
be  explained  from  historical  development,  but  is 
an  outcome  of  that  wonderful  Person.  I  tried  to 
present  some  of  these  arguments  a  priori,  but  the 
doctor  convinced  me  they  would  hardly  hold  water 
so.  I  am  still  on  the  long  study  (on  '  Wrecker's 
Right'   now)." 

It  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Brace  that,  during 
these  years  of  his  preparation  for  the  book  on  the 
influences  of  Christianity,  he  should  have  constantly 
courted  objections  to  his  argument,  —  not  with  a 
view  to  combating  them,  but  from  his  habitual 
desire  to  see  both  sides  of  every  question.  This 
quality  of  intellectual  sympathy  with  those  who 
differed  with  him,  combined  with  certain  deep-laid, 
unwavering  principles  of  his  own,  was,  in  large 
part,  the  secret  of  his  extraordinary  power  of  help- 
fulness to  almost  all  whom  he  met,  and  appeared  in 
his  tender   comprehension  of  the   temptations   and 


360  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1878 

aims  of  the  wretched  people  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact  in  his  work,  in  his  interest  in  the  religious 
difficulties  of  the  young  friends  who  came  to  him 
for  counsel,  and  in  his  seeking  to  see  as  others  did, 
even  in  matters  so  absorbing  to  him  as  this  latest 
study. 

Apart  from  his  theme  of  study,  manifold  other 
interests  were  absorbing  him,  as  may  be  seen  from 
the  next  letter. 

"This  is  a  very  busy  season  with  me,"  he  writes 
Dr.  Howard.  "  Yesterday  the  Astor  party  of  one 
hundred  boys  to  the  West;  then  a  grand  effort  to 
rebuild  Rivington  Street  Lodging-house  (cost  fifty 
thousand  dollars  for  land  and  all) ;  all  sorts  of 
society  things,  and  a  lecture  next  week  on  'Peace 
and  Free  Trade ' ;  newspaper  writing ;  my  book, 
and  some  'tenement  house  meetings.'  " 

The  paper  read  before  the  Free  Trade  Club  on 
"Free  Trade  as  promoting  Peace  among  Men," 
views,  as  its  title  shows,  this  question  from  the 
side  of  the  moralist  rather  than  of  the  economist. 
He  begins :  "  To  the  moralist,  free  trade  is  not  most 
of  all  important  as  a  means  of  producing  and  dis- 
tributing wealth  (though  in  that  it  be  the  most 
efficient),  but  rather  as  a  portion  of  that  movement 
of  humanity  which,  receiving  its  greatest  impulse 
eighteen  centuries  ago,  has  been  steadily,  ever 
since,    removing    prejudices,    lightening    burdens, 


iET.  52]   LECTURE  ON  PEACE  AND  FREE  TRADE    361 

doing  away  with  abuses,  and  bringing  together 
into  one,  different  classes  and  peoples  and  races. 
Living  under  the  influence  of  this  great  humane 
impulse,  we  do  not  enough  remember  what  effects 
it  has  already  accomplished,  what  slow  but  perma- 
nent victories  it  has  won,  and  what  it  proves  itself 
adapted  to  win  in  the  centuries  to  come."  He 
explains  that  by  "free  trade"  he  does  not  mean 
merely  the  freedom  to  buy  and  sell,  but  the  moral 
view  that  different  nations  need  not  be  opposed; 
that  they  are  members  of  one  family ;  that  the  pros- 
perity of  one  is  the  prosperity  of  all,  and  the  loss  of 
one  the  loss  of  all;  that  war,  wherever  it  is,  is  a 
terrible  injury  to  all.  After  stating  that  "the 
science  of  Political  Economy  and  experience  are 
teaching  a  closer  brotherhood  of  nations  than  the 
past  knew,"  he  goes  on  to  say  that  he  knows  well 
it  is  these  sentiments  that  make  associations  like 
the  one  he  is  addressing,  called  "idealists,"  but 
that  all  reformers  of  the  past  have  been  idealists  in 
their  day,  and  he  continues :  — 

"  So  with  the  Free  Trade  gospel.  At  this  present 
moment,  its  gainsayers  are  many,  and  its  supporters 
few.  A  falling  from  the  faith  has  begun  in  the 
house  of  its  friends  —  still  all  this  is  of  little 
account.  This  is  a  truth  belonging  to  coming  ages. 
The  great  spring-tide  of  human  progress  is  wi%h  it, 
and  all  obstacles  of  prejudice  and  ancient  habit  and 


362  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1879 

selfish  greed  will  ultimately  be  swept  away  by  it,  or 
be  as  straws  on  its  stately  and  irresistible  current." 

The  newer  branches  of  the  work  of  the  Children's 
Aid  Society  were  constant  sources  of  satisfaction  to 
Mr.  Brace:  the  "Sick  Mission,"  taking  medicine 
and  nourishing  food  into  the  wretched  tenements; 
the  "Flower  Mission,"  with  the  sunshine  of  its 
bright  flowers,  to  the  miserable  rooms;  and  the 
"Summer  Home,"  giving  good  food  and  sea  air  to 
the  little  girls  from  the  schools.  One  indirect  good 
of  the  week  in  the  country,  to  the  poor,  is  in  the 
lesson  taught  of  better  cooking  and  simple,  nourish- 
ing food,  and  in  the  habit  taught  the  children  of 
drinking  milk  instead  of  tea  or  coffee.  Many,  too, 
he  says,  learnt  for  the  first  time  the  habit  of  sleeping 
"between  two  sheets." 

The  thorough  work  of  the  industrial  schools, 
under  the  able  superintendent,  Mr.  Skinner,  con- 
tinued to  keep  pace  with  all  the  newest  ideas  and 
discoveries  for  awakening  children's  minds,  and  Mr. 
Brace  found  immense  satisfaction  in  liis  frequent 
visits  to  this  branch  of  the  society.  The  children 
grew  to  look  for  the  gentle,  benevolent  face  which 
they  said  "always  smiled  at  them,"  and  he  used  to 
return  home  in  delight  at  the  intelligent  object- 
lessons  in  which  even  the  smallest  had  taken  part, 
and  in  much  satisfaction  with  himself  that  he  was 


jEr.  52]     PREPARATIONS  FOR  SUMMER  WORK    363 

such  an  able   critic   of  a  good   "button-hole"  or  a 
fine,  close  "darn." 

His  life  and  occupations  during  the  year  of  1879 
may  be  clearly  discerned  from  the  set  of  letters 
below,  permitting  us,  as  they  do,  a  knowledge,  not 
only  of  his  arduous  duties  and  studies,  but  in  the 
second  and  third  letters,  giving  us  for  an  instant  a 
glimpse  of  the  deeper  undercurrents  of  his  thoughts. 

To  Dr.  Howard. 

Ches-knoll,  May  25,  1879. 

My  dear  George :  .  .  .  We  are  having  our  usual 
round  of  excursions  and  parties,  etc.,  and  Ches- 
knoll  is  in  her  best.   .   .  . 

I  have  been  reading  so  sad  and  able  a  work  by 
"Physicus"  on  theism  —  an  atheist,  who  mourns 
that  he  is  one.  Please  read,  to-morrow  or  next  day, 
an  article  from  me  in  the  "Times  "  on  "the  Melan- 
choly of  the  Thinking  Classes."  We  are  preparing 
for  summer  work, — have  the  "Summer  Home"  all 
ready,  but  the  "sick  infants"^  do  not  call  forlh 
help.  Did  you  know  that  Miss  Wolfe  is  to  build 
a  new  lodging-house  for  us  in  place  of  Rivington 
Street  —  for  forty  thousand  dollars  ? 

1  Mr.  Brace's  great  desire  was  to  have  a  home  by  the  sea  to 
which  to  take  sick  babies,  with  their  motliers,  from  tlie  tenement 
hruses,  and  keep  tliem  for  a  week.  But  although  subscriptions 
were  accumulating  for  the  purpose,  to  Mr.  Brace's  keen  disap- 
pointment there  was  not  money  enough  to  justify  at  that  time  this 
new  branch  of  the  Society. 


364  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1879 


To  his  Daughter. 

Newport,  July  6,  1879. 

Dearest  E — ;  ...  It  brought  vividly  to  my  mind 
the  one  thing  that  carried  my  life  into  a  deep 
channel  —  the  death  of  my  sister.  It  is  twenty-nine 
years  since  we  buried  her  body,  and  yet  I  couldn't 
read  one  of  her  letters  now,  —  and  the  whole  (did  I 
permit  it)  would  be  as  fresh  as  of  yesterday,  — and 
I  suppose  were  I  to  live  as  I  do  now,  the  world 
would  grow  gray  before  I  could  forget  her.  How 
one  desires  to  comfort,  and  yet  how  poor  are  words ! 
I  have  wondered  whether  our  exceptionally  happy 
life  might  not  unfit  one  for  consoling.  God  has  so 
mercifully  spared  our  family,  and  all  things  have 
gone  on  so  well.  ...  At  your  age,  I  lived  as  on 
a  thin  film  over  Eternity  —  but  death  had  opened 
realities. 

I  want  to  write  you  a  little  advice  about  your 
journey.^  I  want  you  to  be  very  ambitious  and  eager 
for  the  best  things ;  to  learn  a  great  deal  and  get  the 
best.  Even  the  constant  consideration  required  on 
such  a  trip  will  be  a  great  gain  for  you.  Do  not  try 
to  see  too  much.  Galleries  are  horribly  fatiguing. 
Occasionally  omit  a  gallery  or  a  building,  and  read 
and  study  and  think  on  what  you  have  seen.  If  you 
are  tired,  stop!  This  incessant  sight-seeing  is  not 
of  much  use.  Try  to  learn  about  each  city  something 
of  its  history  or  politics.  Ask  yourself  why  you 
like  certain  pictures,  and  choose  the  best  before  you 

1  His  daughter  had  just  sailed  for  Europe. 


^T.  53]  SPENCER'S  PHILOSOPHY  365 

know  the  artists.  Analyze  the  architecture  you  like 
best,  and  try  to  recognize  different  schools  of  art. 
You  should  take  a  little  pains  with  your  letters  to 
us.  First,  give  us  a  brief  journal,  then  describe  the 
things  which  strike  you  most  in  the  most  condensed 
form,  and  the  small  things ;  —  use  no  conventional 
language,  but  the  true  expression.  In  pictures,  treat 
a  landscape  by  its  truth  to  scenes  you  have  seen. 
And  please  make  Sunday  a  day  of  rest,  letters,  and 
worship.  Remember  my  habit  and  wishes  in  this. 
We  shall  miss  you  more  and  more. 

To  Dr.  Howard. 

Bath,  Sept.  13,  1879. 
My  dear  George :  I  send  you  a  "  Nation  "  with  an 
interesting  review  of  Spencer.  You  will  be  sur- 
prised to  find  so  much  of  your  own  and  Taylor's 
philosophy  in  Spencer,  the  arch-evolutionist,  only 
with  the  difference  that  yours  includes  God.  Would 
not  mankind  take  chloroform  if  they  had  no  future 
but  Spencer's  ?  No  individual  continuance,  no  God, 
no  superior  powers,  only  evolution  working  towards 
a  benevolent  society  here,  and  perfection  on  earth, 
with  great  doubts  whether  it  could  succeed,  and,  if 
it  succeeded,  whether  the  end  would  pay. 

To  Miss  G-.  Schuyler. 

Bath,  Sept.  14,  1879. 
My  dear  Friend ;    .  .   .  I  have  returned  to  much 
work.     This  summer  I  have  been  busy  on  my  subject 


366  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1879 

—  now,  the  effect  of  Christianity  on  international 
law.  I  have  made  some  of  my  chapters  too  dry  and 
learned,  and  therefore  must  rewrite.  My  main  topic 
is  the  effect  of  Christianity  on  practices  and  customs, 
as  well  as  laws.  One  difficulty  is  to  eliminate  the 
effect  of  other  things,  as  race,  Roman  law,  stoicism, 
etc.,  etc.  It  is  a  big  subject  and  will  demand  many 
years.  Then  I  have  so  little  time,  and  so  few  books. 
Still,  the  work  is  a  pleasure.  And  to  do  one  little 
thing  to  strengthen  the  failing  faith  in  Him  who 
leads  modern  civilization  would  be  worth  years  of 
labor.  If  my  life-work  for  the  children  could  do  this, 
it  would  be  the  highest  reward.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Brace 
and  I  celebrated  this  year  our  "silver  wedding." 
What  a  long  sunlight  on  our  lives,  and  hardly  a 
shadow  on  the  home.  Our  nearest  friendship  when 
we  began  was  with  your  mother.  And  I  hope  among 
our  last  will  be  with  you  and  yours. 

To  Dr.  Asa  Gray. 

[1879.] 

Dear  Dr.  Gray :  You  ask  me  to  answer  two  ques- 
tions. (1)  What  are  the  doubts  on  religion  which 
sometimes  trouble  me,  even  though  I  dispel  them, 
and  (2)  What  are  the  doubts  which  are  most  current 
among  clergymen ;  your  object  being  to  prepare  your 
lectures  to  meet  these  doubts. 

(1)  With  me,  the  gravest  doubts  are  not  as  to  the 
usual  subjects,  moral  evil,  pain,  etc.,  for,  being  sure 
of  endless  life  and  a  benevolent  God,  I  could  conceive 
that  these  might  all  be  explained.  The  deepest  doubt 
which  occasionally  passes  my  mind  is,  whether  all 


^T.  53]        CURRENT  RELIGIOUS  DOUBTS  367 

religion  is  not  an  illusion  of  the  race  —  a  projection 
of  its  hopes  and  imaginations  into  the  darkness.  The 
approaches  to  this  doubt  are  made  by  the  facts  that 
supernaturalism  is  more  and  more  dropped  out  of 
belief  in  the  progress  of  the  race ;  that  the  apparently 
exceptional  phenomena  of  Christianity  ai-e  found  in 
the  histories  of  other  religions ;  and  that  supernatural 
events  are  not  known  in  this  age.  Tlien  evolution 
suggests  the  possibility  of  the  whole  Cosmos  arising 
out  of  the  permanence  of  force,  the  eternity  of  mat- 
ter, and  a  few  laws,  such  as  gravitation,  heredity, 
survival  of  the  fittest,  etc. 

The  old  argument  from  design  has  lost  something 
of  its  force,  unless  you  can  prove  that  "  variation  is 
guided,"  and  the  argument  from  the  harmony  of 
the  universe  is  weakened  by  evolution  (admitting  the 
permanence  of  force  and  eternity  of  matter),  or  the 
barren  choice  has  to  be  made  between  the  probabil- 
ity of  eternally  continuing  forces,  or  of  one  eternal 
intelligent  force.  Then,  under  evolution,  conscience 
becomes  only  the  accumulated  social  feeling  and  sym- 
pathy of  the  race,  and  the  moral  and  intellectual 
world  only  a  fruit  of  blind  forces.  A  God  under 
such  reasoning  begins  to  look  like  a  possibility,  not 
a  necessity;  and  so  with  a  future  life.  We  can  per- 
haps account  for  everything  by  blind  laws,  force  and 
matter  and  gravitation  or  the  like.  The  universe 
would  then  be  a  chance  out  of  an  enormous  number 
of  possibilities.  These  doubts  I  can  meet;  but  this 
is  the  drift  of  them. 

(2)  As  to  clergymen,  their  doubts  are  more  as  to 
the  Bible  Cosmogony,  the  antiquit}^  of  man,  the 
inspiration    of    Scripture    and   its    agreement   with 


368  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1880 

science,  the  question  whether  Christianity  differs  in 
kind  from  some  other  faiths,  and  whether  Christ  is 
not  also  a  product  of  history,  the  difficulty  of  a 
partial  supernaturalism,  —  i.e.  a  revelation  to  one 
race  and  at  one  time,  —  and  the  origin  of  evil  and 
pain  under  a  benevolent  God. 

I  think  my  greatest  supports  are  (1)  the  Christian 
revelation ;  (2)  the  logical  necessity  of  an  originat- 
ing force ;  (3)  the  utter  mystery  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  universe,  and  therefore  the  possibility  of  any- 
thing ;  (4)  the  character  of  Christ  and  the  tendency  of 
His  teaching  as  beyond  any  age  as  yet ;  (5)  the  steady 
progress  in  His  direction,  of  humanity;  (6)  the 
adaptation  of  religion  to  the  mind ;  (7)  the  harmony 
and  intelligent  order  of  the  universe,  so  that  chance 
seems  hardly  credible  as  the  cause.  How  much  of 
our  religion  must  be  faith!  The  interesting  and 
important  point  in  your  Lectures  will  be  the  explain- 
ing of  that  in  evolution  which  must  come  from 
purpose,  and  not  from  blind  laws. 

To  the  Same. 

19  East  4th  St.,  Nkw  York, 
March  10,  1880. 

Dear  Dr.  Giray :  Many  thanks  for  your  delightful 
book.^  It  seems  to  me  the  ablest  you  have  written 
on  philosophical  topics.  The  style  is  clear  as  crystal, 
and  the  tone  admirable.  I  was  much  struck  with  the 
statement  in  the  first  part  of  the  first  Lecture ;  the 
best  I  ever  saw  on  that  subject.     I  see  you  are  not 

1  "Darwiniana." 


Mr.  53]       ANNUAL   TRIPS  TO  THE  SOUTH  3G9 

a  Darwinian,  pure  and  simple.  The  religious  argu- 
ment was  candid  and  clear  —  perhaps  as  good  as  can 
be  given.  I  have  written  a  brief  notice  of  it  for  the 
"Times." 

To  a  Friend. 

Ches-knoll,  March  14,  1880. 
My  dear  Friend :  Such  an  amount  as  I  have  this 
winter.  We  are  just  finishing  one  lodging-house; 
trying  to  build  another;  Mr.  James  is  going  to  build 
us  a  sanitarium  at  Rockaway;  I  must  plan  all  and 
raise  money  and  get  the  people  down,  etc.  Then 
prepare  for  the  "  Summer  Home  "  at  Bath,  then  all  the 
schools,  lodging-houses,  and  emigration-parties,  and 
now  the  annual  examinations  of  four  thousand  chil- 
dren; besides  the  newspaper  articles  and  regular 
study  and  writing  on  my  book.  Of  course,  I  could 
not  do  all  this  without  perfect  system  and  order,  and 
the  power  of  turning  from  one  thing  to  another.  I 
have  been  deeply  interested  in  my  chapter  on  "  Chiv- 
alry," and  have  finished  it,  though  hardly  to  my 
satisfaction.  I  should  like  to  read  it  to  you.  It 
has  cost  much  reading.  ...  I  am  going  South  this 
week  to  look  after  our  emigration  there. 

The  annual  trips  to  the  South  were  always  a 
refreshment  to  him.  A  visit  in  West  Virginia,  a 
glimpse  at  the  great  work  at  Hampton,  Virginia, 
and  a  run  into  the  North  Carolina  mountains  to  the 
places  where  boys  had  been  sent  by  the  society, 
rested  him  after  the  strain  of  examining  four  thou- 

2b 


B70  CHARLES  LORING   BRACE  [1880 

sand  children  in  the  annual  examinations  of  the 
industrial  schools. 

For  a  long  time  the  imperfect  enforcement  of  the 
laws  compelling  all  children  to  be  in  school  a  part 
of  each  day,  and  the  employment  of  children  below 
the  authorized  age  in  factories,  had  been  to  him 
a  source  of  anxiety.  These  evils  were  sore  trials 
to  those  striving  to  help  these  children,  and  it 
was  very  distressing  to  him  to  think  of  little  ones 
of  tender  age  working  throughout  long  days,  and 
often  evenings,  in  tobacco  and  other  factories.  He 
urged  more  decided  effort  to  enforce  what  laws  there 
were  for  the  protection  of  children. 

In  September,  1880,  Mr.  Brace  went  to  the  Social 
Science  Meeting  in  Saratoga,  and  enjoyed  the  con- 
vention greatly,  reading  there  a  paper  on  "  Christi- 
anity and  the  Relations  of  Nations."  It  is  a  plea 
for  the  Christianization  of  international  law,  and 
states  his  belief  that  it  is  because  the  Christian 
Church  throughout  the  world  is  so  far  behind  the 
teachings  of  the  Master  that  war  is  possible.  He 
thinks  that  there  is  coming  a  time  when,  as  we 
realize  the  ideal  presented  by  Christ,  war  and 
hatred  and  revenge  will  cease  in  the  relations  of 
one  nation  to  another,  and  peaceful  arbitration, 
the  course  dictated  by  a  Christianized  international 
law,  will  be  employed  to  settle  international  diffi- 
culties. 


iET.  54]  "SUMMER   HOME"   AT   BATH  371 

In  a  letter,  early  in  the  following  spring,  to  Mrs. 
Gray,  he  says :  — 

"We  hear  only  a  little  about  you  and  the  Doctor, 
and  want  to  know  more.  You  and  he  are  a  light  to 
the  eyes  of  our  spirits,  and  though  we  do  not  see 
you  often  in  the  body,  we  feel  you  both.  You  have 
been  such  a  comfort  and  support  to  our  whole  family, 
and  the  Doctor  is  a  guide  to  so  many  thousands  in  the 
wilderness  of  science.     We  all  love  3^ou  both. 

"My  work  increases.  We  have  just  received  a 
beautiful  place  for  the  'Summer  Home' — cost 
$20,000  —  a  gift  —  at  Bath.  Site  for  sanitarium  not 
yet  found.  We  have  also  a  house  for  the  Italian 
school  — cost  $12,000  — a  gift,  and  $15,000  for  the 
sanitarium,  when  we  can  lind  a  place,  and  $9000 
bequest  from  Maine.  You  know  that  Miss  Wolfe 
had  built  us  a  boys'  lodging-house  for  $40,000,  and 
had  given  $6000  for  outfit,  so  you  see  Harvard  does 
not  get  all  the  plums !  " 

The  "  Summer  Home "  referred  to  above  is  on 
the  shore  of  New  York  Bay,  with  bathing  beach, 
shade  trees,  lawn,  and  every  arrangement  for  the 
happiness  and  health  of  the  little  girls.  The  society 
at  once  built  dormitories  and  various  necessary 
buildings,  and  a  bulkhead  to  keep  out  the  sea. 
Parties  of  little  girls  were  taken  down  every  Mon- 
day morning  to  stay  until  Saturday  night,  and 
during  the  summer  nearly  four  thousand  children 
were  benefited  by  this  experience. 


372  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1880 

The  beginning  of  a  long  correspondence  with  Dr. 
Howard  about  his  new  book  is  marked  by  the  follow- 
ing letter,  which  is  dated  December  of  the  current 
year.  The  letter  gives  a  r^sumd  of  his  argument, 
and  a  frank  statement  of  the  principal  difi&culties 
in  his  faith :  — 

".  .  .  In  my  'History,'"  he  says,  "the  first  and 
best  quality  must  be  absolute  truthfulness,  or  loyalty 
to  my  own  convictions.  I  must  not  make  my  argu- 
ment appear  a  shade  stronger  than  the  facts  warrant. 
As  I  look  back  over  an  immense  field  of  study,  I  form 
these  conclusions : 

"(I.)  that  Christianity  is  the  greatest  element  in 
modern  progress. 

"(U.)  but  that  it  was  essentially  assisted  by  (a) 
the  Stoical  morals,  (i)  by  Roman  law,  (c)  by  German 
character,  (d)  by  Arabic  science,  and  more  recently 
by  a  complex  series  of  influences,  called  civilization, 
which  is  also,  in  part,  a  fruit  of  religion. 

"(in.)  That  what  ought  to  have  been  the  best 
expression  of  Christianity,  the  Church,  has  often  been 
directly  against  progress.  Yet  even  under  that,  there 
were  many  blessings  conferred  on  mankind. 

"(IV.)  That  the  tendency  and  drift  of  Christianity 
is  towards  a  perfect  moral  condition  of  the  human  race. 

"  (V.)  That  reasoning  from  what  Christianity  has 
accomplished  in  the  world  in  a  brief  period,  and  its 
tendencies,  one  may  conclude  that,  in  a  sufiiciently 
long  period,  it  will  renovate  the  world,  and  thus 
establish  itself  as  the  absolute  system  of  morals,  and 
justify  its  claims,  as  divinely  sanctioned. 


^T.  54]  RfiSU^Nlfi   OF  NEW  BOOK  373 

"(VI.)  But  that  in  all  races  and  ages  there  were 
revelations  of  God  to  individuals  and  in  the  consti- 
tution of  mind  and  the  world,  so  that  truths  were 
uttered,  and  principles  taught  and  lived  upon, 
similar  to  those  of  Christ.  But  that  not  being  such 
complete  revelations,  or  being  degraded  or  obscured 
by  selfish  tendencies,  they  only  had  a  comparatively 
feeble  effect  on  human  progress.  Thus  the  compar- 
atively high  condition  of  India,  as  compared  with 
other  parts  of  Asia,  may  be  due  to  the  truths  of  her 
religion.  While  the  great  obstacles  to  her  progress, 
as  compared  with  Europe,  such  as  the  low  position 
of  woman,  caste,  and  superstition,  are  due  to  her 
lack  of  such  a  religion  as  Christianity.  So  Moham- 
medan countries  are  more  progressive  than  the 
pagan  African,  in  part  because  of  the  truth  of 
divine  unity,  but  are  behind  European,  because  of 
their  want  of  the  humanity,  liberty,  and  benevolence 
which  belong  to  Christianity. 

"  (VII.)  The  great  difficulties  of  the  argument  are 
(^a)  to  eliminate  the  influence  of  Christ  from  the 
influences  mentioned,  (S)  to  distinguish  the  Chris- 
tian Church  from  Christ,  (c)  to  show  that  a  Chris- 
tian future  is  the  best  possible  for  humanity. 

"  (VIII.)  Another  great  difficulty  remains,  though 
I  am  not  obliged  to  solve  it:  Why  this  absolute  and 
divinely-sanctioned  system  of  morals  and  religion 
should  be  revealed  only  to  one  petty  race,  and  in  a 
remote  corner,  and  so  many  ages  and  peoples  be  in 
ignorance  of  it. 

"(IX.)  The  inference  from  the  whole  argument 
is  —  Christianity  is  the  absolute  system  of  morals, 
and   absolute  religion  for  all  ages  and  races,    and 


374  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1881 

therefore  divinely  or  supernaturally  given.  Or,  put 
it  in  another  way:  Christ,  being  as  He  is,  the 
originator  of  modern  progress,  and  the  teacher  and 
embodiment  of  absolute  morals,  is  to  be  believed 
in  His  supernatural  teaching.  Now,  please  pick 
holes  in  this,  and  oblige  yours  affectionately,  etc." 

In  June  Mr.  Brace  sent  him  the  introduction. 
Dr.  Howard  was  disappointed  in  it,  thinking  that 
it  failed  to  give  due  emphasis  to  what  Christianity 
had  accomplished.  He  says  that  the  book  itself 
gives  in  detail  the  credit  to  Christianity  of  what  it 
has  produced,  more  strongly  than  is  conveyed  in  the 
introduction,  and  that  at  the  same  time  he  has  not 
shown  the  failure  of  Roman  law,  of  German  ideas 
and  customs,  etc.,  as  revealed  by  historic  develop- 
ment, to  produce  the  beneficent  changes  and  moral 
advancements  which  Christianity  is  by  the  author 
affirmed  to  have  effected.  He  says  that  this  "  leaves 
an  uncertainty  and  weakness  which  make  one  fear 
that  a  vigorous  push  by  an  adverse  critic  might 
tumble  the  work  over."  He  then  asks  if  Mr.  Brace 
cannot  claim  a  little  more  for  the  work  of  Christ, 
and  speaks  of  Max  Miiller's  assertion  that  '"'' Human- 
ity is  a  word  which  you  look  for  in  vain  in  Plato 
or  Aristotle."     Mr.  Brace  answers:  — 

"  Many  thanks  for  your  hints  and  commendations, 
which  will  aid  me.  In  regard  to  the  general  tone 
of  the  book,  you  must  remember  it  will  not  do  to 


iET.  55]       THE  CHILDREN'S  AID  SOCIETY  375 

make  it  like  a  sermon,  or  an  exhortation.  It  is  a 
critical  examination,  and  the  argument  is  cumula- 
tive, the  conclusion  is  from  a  balancing  of  probabili- 
ties and  from  many  small  considerations.  To  draw 
these  inferences  with  too  much  warmth  would  injure, 
I  fear,  the  effect.  Then  I  must  be  exactly  true  to 
my  convictions.  It  is  very  easy  to  make  a  strong 
statement  like  Miiller's,  but  the  trouble  is  it  is  not 
true.  I  can  produce  page  after  page  of  the  Stoical 
writers  with  as  broad  humanity  as  anything  in  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  true  it  did  not  imbue  the  world.  One 
must  be  careful  of  too  sweeping  assertions  in  this 
matter,  as  to  effects.  There  is  no  doubt  about 
principles  and  tendencies." 

In  May,  1881,  Mr.  Brace  went  to  Cambridge  and 
made  an  address  on  the  work  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  enjoying  very  much  his  visit  Avith  Presi- 
dent and  Mrs.  Eliot.  Dr.  Howard,  on  June  27th, 
writes  him  of  the  address,  which  was  afterwards 
published:  "It  seems  to  me  every  way  admir- 
able. It  is  a  marvel  of  condensation,  effected  so 
as  to  bring  out  the  whole  work  in  strong  outlines, 
and  yet  not  dryly.  The  enthusiasm  of  humanity 
throbs  through  it  all;  more  openly  and  decisively 
than  I  thought  you  would  permit  to  yourself  just 
there,  but  adding  greatly  to  its  power.  Your  tes- 
timony to  the  necessity  of  religious  and  Christian 
faith  in  the  noble  reformatory  work  which  you  have 
so  successfully  inaugurated  and  carried  on,  affected 


376  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1881 

both  M.  and  myself.  It  crowned  the  address.  The 
opportunity  to  speak  to  that  audience,  and  under 
such  auspices,  you  must  always  remember  with 
pleasure." 

The  society  and  Mr.  Brace  met  with  a  great  loss 
this  year  in  the  death  of  his  brother,  Mr.  J.  P. 
Brace.  He  had  been  a  Western  agent  for  some 
years,  and  was  admirably  fitted  for  the  work.  His 
affection  for  children  made  him  a  very  kind  care- 
taker during  the  long  journeys,  and  his  tact  and 
pleasant  manners  everywhere  won  friends  for  the 
cause.  During  his  fifteen  years  of  service,  he  had 
placed  some  ten  thousand  homeless  children  in 
homes.  The  long  journeys  were  too  great  a  strain, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1881  he  contracted  a  fever 
and  died  suddenly,  leaving  the  "home  desolate  of 
him  who  had  made  the  homes  of  so  many  happy. 
His  weary  journeys  in  the  cause  of  humanity  are 
over.     He  sleeps  in  God.''^ 

The  winter  of  1881-2  found  Mr.  Brace's  health 
seriously  impaired  by  the  increasing  demands  of 
the  great  charity,  and  it  was  decided  that  he  and 
Mrs.  Brace  should  go  abroad  in  May  for  the  summer, 
for  the  needed  rest  and  change  of  scene. 

In  April  he  writes  to  Dr.   Gray  of   the  death  of 

Darwin ;  — 

1  29th  Annual  Report. 


iEx.  55]  A  SEASON  IN  LONDON  377 

"I  feel  so  much  with  3-ou  at  the  death  of  Darwin. 
It  must  come  very  near  to  you.  The  world  will  feel 
it  —  the  loss  of  the  greatest  intellect  of  this  century. 
I  am  so  glad  that  your  kindness  enabled  L.  and  me 
to  know  him  personally,  and  to  feel  the  wonderful 
sweetness  and  vivacity  of  his  nature.  He  has  made 
much  of  life,  and  I  think  was  a  conscious  and  true 
servant  of  the  Master.  How  near  is  the  'better  land  ' 
coming  to  me,  as  the  leaders  and  friends  here  go 
hence !  And  how  one  longs  to  finish  the  task  and 
do  it  thoroughly!  " 

Although  with  full  intentions  of  going  abroad 
to  rest,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brace  made  in  London  their 
first  stopping-place,  and  were  at  once  swallowed  in 
the  vortex  of  society  and  philanthropy,  as  they  had 
been  in  former  visits.  But  the  gay  life  was  delight- 
ful to  them  both,  and  Mr.  Brace,  as  usual,  felt  that 
he  must  see  a  little  of  the  organized  charity  work  in 
London.  Among  the  many  pleasures  they  enjoyed, 
was  a  dinner  with  the  Hon.  John  Morley,  who  had 
once  visited  them  in  their  little  home  at  Hastings. 
Writing  of  this  English  experience,  he  says :  — 

"...  You  know  what  a  brilliant  time  we  had  in 
London.  We  came  at  a  very  exciting  time  in  public 
affairs,  and  happened  to  be  thrown  in  with  leading 
men  in  Parliament  a  great  deal,  so  that  we  were  in 
the  centre  of  English  life.  Your  'Aunty,'  being  so 
well  up  in  English  and  European  affairs,  could  take 
full  part  in  it  all,  and  we  were  most  warmly  received 


378  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1882 

by  all.  I  partook  of  an  infinite  number  of  dinners, 
to  which  you  know  I  am  not  indifferent.  Still  it 
was  rather  too  fast  a  life  for  me.  London  is  a  kind 
of  whirlpool  or  Pandemonium,  and  every  one  is  swept 
along  like  a  chip  on  the  current.  I  think  few  people 
(among  the  commoners)  ever  had  a  warmer  welcome 
in  England.  The  thing  that  struck  me  most  was 
the  rich,  overflowing,  out-door  life,  especially  of  the 
higher  classes,  and  the  superb  physique  of  the  women 
not  yet  in  middle  life.  This  riding  is  so  grand  for 
them!  They  begin  as  babes.  As  girls  they  do  not 
look  better  than  ours  or  stronger.  Then  I  am  always 
impressed  with  the  vast  deal  done  here  by  the  rich 
for  the  poor,  and  the  lives  consecrated  to  humanity 
and  religion." 

The  time  in  London,  however,  was  soon  over,  and 
they  started  early  in  July  for  the  Engadine  by  way  of 
the  Rhine  and  Switzerland.  From  Lucerne  he  writes : 
"  The  contrast  between  that  whirlpool  of  London  and 
the  still  and  glad  Rhine  was  most  delicious.  We 
took  several  days  on  it,  and  got  the  full  spirit  of 
it.  It  is  a  kind  of  perpetual  picnic  and  natural 
picture-gallery.  ..."  The  Engadine  experience 
was  very  perfect,  as  the  next  letter  shows,  and 
restored  Mr.  Brace  to  his  usual  abounding  health. 

To  his  Daughter. 

SiLz  Maria,  July  28,  1882, 
Ml/  dearest  L — ;  Your  lively  letters   are  a  great 
pleasure   to   us.     In   the   Engadine   we   have    been 


Mr.  56]  THE  ENGADINE  379 

having  winter,  but  splendid  weather  for  exercise. 
The  peasants  describe  the  climate  as  "nine  months 
winter  and  three  months  cold."  Think  of  your 
mother  walking  six  and  seven  miles  to  a  glacier 
and  back.  It  was  such  a  lovely  green  valley  —  the 
Fex  —  about  eight  thousand  feet  high,  with  so  many 
bright  flowers.     They  catch  the  blue  of  the  heavens 

—  some  a  deep  black  blue;  even  the  dandelions  have 
a  wonderful  yellow.  I  saw  the  Pyrola  in  the  woods, 
and  we  were  near  the  Edelweiss.  One  of  the  experi- 
ences is  to  go  alone  where  the  great  "ice  plough"  has 
turned  up  the  valley,  and  made  moraines  of  stones, 
and  step  on  the  broken  surface,  or  to  lie  down  in  the 
solitude  and  look  up  far  above  at  the  white,  broken 
waves  of  ice  against  the  black-blue  of  the  sky,  and 
listen  to  the  roar  of  the  torrent  under  it,  or  to  watch 
the  far-away  lonely  snow  valleys  where  man  hath  not 
been,  among  the  great  silent  peaks,  —  and  then  think 
what  man  is  and  what  God  must  be.  There  are  so 
many  excursions  here,  such  lovely  walks  in  woods 
and  by  waterfalls.  You  see  there  are  *''  beauty-faction 
societies  "  who  do  this  everywhere  in  the  Engadine. 
I  see  the  men  fly-fishing  in  the  green  lake ;  the  trout 
are  small  and  not  so  pretty  as  ours.  Every  hotel  is 
full  of  English.  I  take  most  to  the  Germans  and  air 
my  German  often. 

The  lakes  are  not  so  beautiful  as  Placid,  and  I 
like  our  atmosphere  better,  but  the  snow-peaks  and 
glaciers  make  it  a  grander  scene.  We  find  it  now 
too  cold  (40°).  The  hotels  are  usually  perfect,  but 
dear.  Numbers  come  up  to  relieve  over  brain-work. 
The  valley  is  a  scene  of  life  and  pleasure  and  activity 

—  ladies  and  tourists  everywhere  in  walks,  arbors, 


380  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE  [1882 

and  woods  and  fields.  It  will  be  always  a  bright 
vision.  The  view  at  night  in  the  moonlight  at 
Pontresina  is  like  a  scene  on  a  theatre  stage ;  a  dark, 
jagged  outline  of  mountains,  near  dark  hill-tops  of 
fir-trees,  a  white  glacier  and  snow-peaks  through  a 
gloomy  valley,  and  our  old  stars  (Antares  and  Arc- 
turus,  etc.)  brilliant,  resplendent,  and  Venus  set- 
ting; in  one's  ears  an  eternal  roar  of  torrents. 
When  we  get  up,  our  first  view  is  of  glaciers.  We 
are  both  so  well  and  strong.  Your  mother  is  gradu- 
ally getting  into  the  mystery  of  centimes,  and  has 
learnt  to  divide  by  five ! 

After  three  weeks  in  the  Engadine,  Mrs.  Brace 
made  a  trip  with  a  brother  in  Italy,  while  Mr. 
Brace  repeated  his  delightful  experience  of  ten 
years  before  in  Hungary.  In  September  they  met 
in  England,  and  after  several  visits  in  rural  parts, 
they  returned  home  in  October,  Mr.  Brace  with 
renewed  vigor  for  the  work  of  life.  "You  can 
imagine,"  he  writes  to  a  friend,  "with  what  joyful 
and  grateful  feelings  I  returned  to  the  lovely  home 
and  my  work.  I  feel  as  if  some  calamity  must 
come,  so  beautiful  have  been  the  mercies  —  not  a 
cloud  or  friction  in  the  whole  journey,  perfect 
health,  and  here  all  well  and  the  work  excellent. 
My  book  will  probably  be  out  by  Thanksgiving, 
too.  I  had  a  glorious  time  in  Hungary  and  Tran- 
sylvania, and  then  another  three  or  four  weeks  in 
England,  a  visit  to  an  aristocratic  radical,  Stanley, 
and  to  an  old  county  family,  etc.,  etc.,  etc." 


Mt.  56]  DEATH  OF  MR.   MACY  381 

As  the  society  grew  more  complete  in  machinery, 
and  far-reaching  in  its  effects,  Mr.  Brace  felt  more 
strongly  than  ever  that  only  a  part  of  its  full  influ- 
ence was  being  exerted,  if  he  could  not  arouse  the 
growing  generation  of  the  more  fortunate  classes 
to  realize  the  opportunities  he  offered  them  to  go 
among  the  poor  and  become  familiar  with  their 
lives  and  needs.  He  urged  the  young  women  to 
identify  themselves  with  some  single  school,  go 
regularly,  talk  with  the  teacher  of  her  labors  and 
their  happy  results,  and  learn  to  understand  the 
childrens'  lives.  There  were  many  Avays  in  which 
the  young  men,  also,  might  find  their  visits  to  the 
lodging-houses  of  value  to  themselves  as  well  as  to 
the  boys.  He  begged  them  to  understand  that  it 
was  not  merely  those  who  had  the  gift  of  speaking 
who  could  be  of  use.  There  was  abundant  opportu- 
nity for  usefulness  in  providing  for  the  amusement 
and  entertainment  of  the  boys,  in  offering  prizes  for 
good  behavior  or  scholarship  at  the  night  schools, 
in  advising  and  directing  them  in  a  thousand  ways, 
—  in  short,  in  the  personal  intercourse  and  mutual 
friendliness  on  which  he  laid  so  much  stress. 

The  society  and  the  poor  of  New  York  suffered 
a  very  great  loss  during  the  year  just  closing,  in 
the  death  of  the  assistant-treasurer,  ]\Ir.  Macy.  A 
sketch  of  him  is  given  in  "The  Dangerous  Classes," 
which   makes   so   complete   a  picture  that   nothing 


382  CHARLES   LORING   BRACE  [1882 

need  be  added.  "The  central  figure  in  this  office, 
disentangling  all  the  complicated  threads  in  their 
various  applications,  and  holding  himself  perfectly 
cool  and  bland  in  this  turmoil,  is  'a  character'  — Mr. 
J.  Macy.  He  was  employed  first  as  a  visitor  for  the 
society;  but  soon  betraying  a  kind  of  bottled-up 
'enthusiasm  of  humanity '  under  a  very  modest 
exterior,  he  was  put  in  his  present  position,  where 
he  has  become  a  sort  of  embodied  Children's  Aid 
Society  in  his  own  person.  Most  men  take  their 
charities  as  adjuncts  to  life  or  as  duties  enjoined  by 
religion  or  humanity.  Mr.  Macy  lives  in  his.  He 
is  never  so  truly  happy  as  when  he  is  sitting  calmly 
amid  a  band  of  his  'lambs,'  —  as  he  sardonically 
calls  the  heavy-fisted,  murderous-looking  young 
vagabonds  who  frequent  the  Cottage  Place  Reading- 
room, —  and  seeing  them  all  happily  engaged  in 
reading  or  quiet  amusements.  Then  the  look  of 
beatific  satisfaction  that  settles  over  his  face  as,  in 
the  midst  of  a  loving  passage  of  his  religious 
address  to  them,  he  takes  one  of  the  obstreperous 
lambs  by  the  collar  and  sets  him  down  very  hard 
on  another  bench  —  never  for  a  moment  breaking 
the  thread  or  sweet  tone  of  his  bland  remarks  —  is  a 
sight  to  behold.  You  know  that  he  is  happier  there 
than  he  would  be  in  a  palace." 

Mr.    Macy's   sense    of   humor   was    his    strongest 
support  in  meeting  the  trying  cases  of  fraud  and 


^T.  56]     CHARACTERISTICS  OF  MR.   MACY  383 

deceit  with  which  he  came  in  contact.  He  knew  at 
a  glance  if  men  were  lazy,  and  once,  on  two  young 
fellows  applying  for  help,  he  conducted  them 
politely  to  the  door  and,  pointing  amiably  to 
Third  Avenue,  said:  "Now,  my  boys,  just  be  kind 
enough  to  walk  right  north  up  that  avenue  for  one 
hundred  miles  into  the  country,  and  you  will  find 
plenty  of  work  and  food.  Good-by !  good-by ! " 
The  boys  departed  mystified.  "For  real  suffering 
and  honest  effort  at  self-help  he  had  a  boundless 
sympathy;  but  the  paupers  and  professional  beggars 
were  the  terror  of  his  life.  He  dreaded  nothing  so 
much  as  a  boy  or  girl  falling  into  habits  of  depend- 
ence. Where  he  was  compelled  to  give  assistance 
in  money,  he  has  been  known  to  set  one  boy  to 
throw  wood  down  and  the  other  to  pile  it  up,  before 
he  would  aid."^ 

The  trustees  felt  the  beauty  and  cheerfulness  of 
his  character  as  Mr.  Brace  did,  and  at  a  meeting 
after  his  death,  expressed  their  sense  of  the  loss  to 
the  society.  For  more  than  twenty-seven  years  he 
had  worked  for  it ;  more  than  three  million  dollars 
had  passed  through  his  hands,  without  any  question 
arising  as  to  the  correctness  of  his  disbursements, 
in  any  particular.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life  he 
was  dreading  total  blindness,  but  even  this  did  not 
lessen  his  placid,  cheerful  courage. 

1  "  Dangerous  Classes,"  p.  278. 


CHAPTER  XII 

"  Gesta  Christi "  —  Letters  about  "  Gesta  Christi "  —  Controversy 
■with  Miss  Lazarus  —  Letters  on  New  Studies  —  Visit  of  Mr. 
Mozoomdar  —  Mr.  Brace's  Devotional  Readings  at  Home  —  Sani- 
tarium—  Letter  from  Mr.  Mozoomdar  —  Political  and  Miscel- 
laneous Letters —  Preparations  for  New  Book 

Late  in  October,  1882,  the  book  appeared  for 
which  Mr.  Brace  had  been  studying  for  several 
years,  and  towards  which  his  reading  had  been 
tending  before  the  book  was  thought  of.  It  was 
entitled  "  Gesta  Christi ;  a  History  of  Humane  Prog- 
ress under  Christianity."  Soon  after  its  appearance 
he  writes  to  Dr.  Howard :  — 

"  At  the  risk  of  appearing  egotistical,  I  send  you 
two  out  of  a  multitude  of  letters  on  the  'Gesta.' 
Dr.  Taylor,  last  Sanday  in  his  sermon,  gave  a  great 
puff  to  the  book,  quoted  from  it,  and  advised  his 
people  to  get  it.     /did  not  send  him  a  copy." 

And  later  to  the  same  friend :  — 

"On  Saturday  I  received  the  warmest  and  best 
letter  I  have  had  —  from  Dr.  Storrs.  I  will  send  it 
to  you.  The  great  men  are  always  generous.  Then 
there  was  a  very  appreciative  notice  from  a  half- 
sceptical  source,  the  'Philadelphia  Press.'  " 

384 


^T.  56]     LETTER  ABOUT  "GESTA  CHRISTI "       385 

Appreciative  letters  came  from  all  sources,  and 
one  from  his  old  friend,  Mr.  Booth,  gave  him  great 
pleasure. 

"...  I  will  keep  it  ['Gesta  Christi '],"  writes 
Mr.  Booth,  "as  a  memorial  of  the  uninterrupted 
friendship  of  more  than  twenty  years,  and  of  co- 
operation in  a  work  of  paramount  importance  in 
'Humane  Progress  under  Christianity.'  The  world 
is  better  for  your  having  lived  in  it,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  grow  better  because  you  have  lived,  long 
after  you  shall  have  passed  to  the  better  world." 

The  following  curiosity  of  literature  belongs  also 
to  his  correspondence  of  this  date :  — 

From  Rev.  C.  Philit. 

AUX    OLLlilRES,    ARDiCHE, 

France,  Dec.  18,  1882. 
Mr.  and  dear  Author:  J'ai  appris  with  great  pleas- 
ure, que  vous  veniez  de  publier  un  tres  remarkable 
work  entitled  "Gesta  Christi."  La  question  ^tudi^e 
m'interesse  tellement,  que  je  desire  ardemment  pos- 
seder  a  copy  of  your  very  precious  work.  Unfortu- 
nately, I  have  not  private  means,  and  my  meagre 
salary  of  seventy-two  pounds  yearly  is  sufficient 
scarcely,  and  by  dint  of  saving,  to  the  maintenance 
of  my  very  numerous  family.  I  cannot,  therefore, 
at  my  very  great  regret,  to  purchase  the  work,  at 
least  at  the  published  price  of  twelve  shillings.  This 
being  so,  alas!  je  prend  la  tres  grande  liberty  de 
vous  adresser,  very  humbly,  cette  lettre,  in  order  to 
2c 


386  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1882 

beseech  you  to  help  me,  if  possible,  in  order  to  ac- 
quire a  copy  of  the  work  so  much  desired.  Si  vous 
pouviez,  et  si  vous  daigniez  me  rendre  ce  grand,  cet 
immense  service,  que  je  sollicite,  very  humbly  et  en 
tremblant,  de  votre  english  and  Christian  generosity, 
I  should  be  to  you  heartily  thankful ! 

Please  to  apologize  my  very  importune  request, 
and  to  believe  as  I  am,  Dear  Author,  etc.^ 

One  of  the  letters  which  pleased  Mr.  Brace  very 
much  was  from  a  friend  made  many  years  before,  — 
Miss  Frances  Power  Cobbe.  A  cordial  friendship 
was  established  between  them  in  1856,  when  Mr. 
Theodore  Parker  gave  Mr.  Brace  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  her  which  speaks  of  him  as  "busied  in 
picking  forlorn  children  out  of  the  streets  of  that 
Gomorrah  of  the  New  World,  and  placing  them  in 
worthy  families.  So  he  saves  such  as  be  ready  to 
perish." 

From  Miss  Cobbe. 

26  Hereford  Square, 
South  Kensington,  Nov.  17,  1882. 

Dear  Mr.  Brace  :  I  am  grateful  to  you  for  sending 
me  your  beautiful  volume.  This  is  the  kind  of 
history  for  which  alone  I  care ;  the  philosophy  of 
history  (such  as  Lecky's  "European  Morals");  and 
you  have  taken  the  most  interesting  and  noblest 
thesis  which  could  have  been  suggested.  I  have 
read  a  good  deal  of  the  book  already,  and  with  great 

1  Mr.  Brace  sent  tlie  book. 


^T.  56]  LETTER  FROM  MISS  COBBE  387 

admiration  for  the  learning  and  grasp  of  thought  it 
displays.  How  have  you  managed,  dear  Mr.  Brace, 
in  your  life  of  practical  usefulness  on  so  vast  a  scale, 
to  amass  all  this  erudition? 

Perhaps  it  will  interest  3'^ou  to  know  that  to  me 
(now,  as  for  forty  years  back,  a  theist  of  Theodore 
Parker's  type),  the  argument  for  Christianity  of 
which  your  book  is  a  splendid  resume  is  the  one  on 
which  —  were  I  a  believer  in  supernaturalism  —  I 
should  rest  my  faith.  All  other  arguments  have 
been  undermined  or  exploded;  but  the  long  stream 
of  light  across  the  dark  and  troubled  ocean  of  human 
existence  certainly  emanates  from  some  Pharos, 
loftier  and  of  purer  brilliance  than  all  the  minor 
lightships  tossing  on  the  waves. 

And  yet  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  great  evil  and 
enormous  misery,  as  well  as  all  the  good  you  describe, 
have  come  to  the  world  through  Christ,  as  directly, 
if  not  as  logically  or  rightfully,  as  the  good.  When 
we  speak  of  the  religious  persecutions  of  the  Chris- 
tian ages  (of  Jews,  of  Heretics,  of  Witches),  and  of 
the  ten  thousand  thousand  hearts  which  have  with- 
ered and  perished  in  nunneries  and  monasteries,  or 
calculate  simply  the  numbers  who  have  been  driven 
into  insanity  by  the  fear  of  hell  grounded  on  Christ's 
recorded  words,  what  a  counterbalance  we  find  to  all 
the  beneficent  influences  which  you  have  chronicled 
so  eloquently.  To  revert  to  the  simile  Avhich  occurred 
to  me  in  the  beginning  of  this  letter,  the  great  Pharos 
of  Galilee  has  been  a  revolving  light,  sometimes  white 
and  pure  as  heaven's  own  rays,  sometimes  red  as 
blood,  even  so  that  it  did  "the  multitudinous  seas 
incarnadine." 


388  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1883 

The  small  corner  of  the  world's  wretchedness  where 
I  have  been  working  for  the  last  eight  years  —  the 
scientific  torture  of  animals  —  has  exhibited  to  me 
some  facts  touching  on  your  argument.  The  first 
is  that  nearly  every  one  of  my  more  earnest  fellow- 
workers  has  been  a  devout  Christian,  most  of  them, 
like  Lord  Shaftesbury,  of  the  Evangelical  type;  and 
that,  on  the  contrary,  nearly  all  the  advocates  of 
vivisection  are  atheists  or  agnostics.  The  second  is 
that  there  are  practically  only  two  principles  under- 
lying the  moral  controversies  of  the  day.  There  is 
the  Christian  principle :  "  Blessed  are  the  merciful, 
for  they  shall  obtain  mercy  "  {i.e.  the  deep  sense  of 
our  own  sinfulness  should  make  us  humble  to  God 
and  tender  to  all  His  creatures).  And  there  is  the 
atheistic  principle :  "  Blessed  are  the  merciless,  for 
they  shall  obtain  useful  knowledge  "  {i.e.  knowl- 
edge is  above  love ;  mental  riches  and  bodily  health 
are  the  supreme  ends  of  man,  and  to  obtain  them,  all 
things  are  lawful). 

Pray  remember  me  most  kindly  to  Mrs.  Brace, 
and  believe  me  with  warm  thanks  and  sincere  respect, 
dear  Mr.  Brace, 

Cordially  yours, 

Fkances  Power  Cobbe. 

Dean  Church  writes  on  the  same  subject  as 
follows :  — 

From  Demi  Church. 

The  Deanery,  St.  Paul's,  Jan.  1,  1883. 
I  have  to  thank  you  for  your  great  courtesy  in 
sending  me  a  copy  of  your  book,  "Gesta  Christi." 


^T.  56]  CRITICISM  OF  HIS  BOOK  389 

I  have  read  a  good  deal  of  it,  and  Avith  very  much 
interest.  The  great  question  with  which  it  deals  is 
not  an  easy  one  to  handle,  from  the  extreme  compli- 
cation of  influences  and  conditions  which  affect  it. 
But  it  seems  to  me  that  you  have  stated  with  great 
force  and  clearness  the  great  broad  results  of  an 
honest  survey  of  the  course  of  modern  civilization. 
I  am  grateful  to  you  for  the  labor  which  you  must 
have  expended  on  it.  You  must  forgive  me  for 
differing  from  you  as  to  the  part  which  the  historical 
church  had  in  the  work.  It  is  easy  to  exaggerate  it, 
as  has  often  been  done;  but  it  is  just  as  natural  at 
present,  and,  to  my  mind,  as  unphilosophical  and 
untrue,  to  overlook  and  underestimate  it.  I  have 
shown  your  book  to  several  of  my  friends,  and  hope 
to  have  other  opportunities  of  doing  so. 

A  very  interesting  letter  from  Miss  Emma  Lazarus, 
bearing  upon  his  book,  needs  some  explanation. 
Mr.  Brace  sent  her  his  "  Gesta  Christi "  in  the  hope 
that  she  would  review  it. 

"Accept  my  sincere  thanks,"  she  writes  in  ac- 
knowledgment, "  for  your  proof  of  friendship  in  send- 
ing me  your  book.  Concerning  criticism,  which  you 
invite  rather  than  deprecate,  I  will  frankly  say  that 
the  volume  had  been  already  sent  to  me  for  review, 
so  that  I  had  read  and  written  out  my  impressions  of 
it,  which  will  appear  in  the  'Sun,'  though  as  yet  I 
don't  know  when.  Of  course,  you  and  I  look  upon 
this  subject  from  such  widely  different  standpoints 
that  our  conclusions  cannot  fail  to  be  directly  opposed. 


390  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1883 

I  have  therefore  spoken  as  frankly  from  what  you  call 
the  'rationalistic  Jewish  '  platform  as  you  have  from 
the  Christian.  But  however  we  may  differ  upon 
intellectual  or  philosophical  questions,  I  do  not  need 
to  assure  you  of  my  warm  personal  regard,  and  to  beg 
you  with  your  accustomed  liberality  to  see  in  my 
printed  words  my  protest  against  a  certain  method 
of  criticism,  not  a  judgment  upon  the  author,  whose 
motives  I  respect,  and  whose  friendship  I  count 
among  my  most  valued  possessions.  I  congratulate 
you  on  the  success  which  I  hear  the  book  is  having, 
and  I  remain,  with  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Brace  and 
all  your  household,  etc." 

In  due  time  the  review  of  which  Miss  Lazarus 
speaks  appeared  in  the  "Sun."  In  it  she  charges 
him  with  a  somewhat  disingenuous  method.  She 
claims  that  he  compares  the  best  results  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  illustrated  in  a  few  saintly  lives,  with 
a  dark  picture  of  failure  of  Stoic  and  Roman  morals 
in  practical  life.  She  also  felt,  as  a  special  personal 
grief,  that  he  slighted  the  moral  influence  of  Juda- 
ism, and  failed  to  credit  to  Judaism  the  very  origin 
of  Christianity. 

Mr.  Brace  was  disappointed  in  the  review,  thinking 
that  it  neglected  to  do  justice  to  the  credit  he  gave 
to  influences  other  than  Christian.  In  a  friendly 
letter  he  told  her  so,  explaining  that  "we  Christians 
are  educated  to  believe  that  Christianity  is  an  out- 
growth and   reform   of   Judaism,   and  therefore  we 


^T.  56]  REVIEW  BY  MISS  LAZARUS  391 

do  not  usually  separate  the  two."  In  reply  to  her 
charge  that  he  is  unfair  to  the  Stoics,  he  defends 
himself  without  difficulty  by  referring  to  many 
passages  in  the  book.  Of  these  he  says:  "I  have 
repeatedly  throughout  the  volume  expressed  the 
obligation  of  the  world  to  the  moral  system  of  the 
Stoics.  One  much  grander  passage  than  the  one 
you  quote,  namely,  that  urging  that  '  all  men  are 
born  naturally  free,'  I  have  quoted  over  and  over 
again,  showing  its  influence  on  the  legislation  of 
antiquity,  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  modern 
period."  She  replies  at  some  length,  first  thank- 
ing him  for  his  frank  expression  of  opinion,  and 
regretting  that  her  criticism  of  his  book  seemed 
lacking  in  justice,  and  then  goes  on  to  touch  on  the 
different  points  under  debate. 

"...  I  am  perfectly  well  aware  that  you  admit 
the  fact,  mentioned  in  my  article,  that  humane  senti- 
ments had  a  certain  influence  upon  Roman  legisla- 
tion ;  but  you  conclude  your  review  of  Roman  slavery 
with  the  remark  that  the  'position  of  the  slave 
throughout  the  entire  reign  of  that  noble  philosophy 
shows  how  comparatively  superficial  the  influence  of 
Stoicism  was,  and  how  confined  to  the  Roman  culti- 
vated classes.'  Thus,  as  I  said,  you  quote  these 
philosophers  only  'to  fall  back  upon  the  assertion 
that  they  were  exceptions,  and  exercised  no  general 
influence.'  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  j)osition  of 
the  slave  be  the  test,  may  not  the  scourged  and  out- 


892  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1883 

raged  negro  of  the  Southern  slaveholder  thirty  years 
ago,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  advent 
of  Jesus,  in  our  most  enlightened  Christian  country, 
have  believed  with  good  reason  that  the  influence  of 
Christian  charity  upon  legislation  was  equally  super- 
ficial and  limited? 

"...  In  regard  to  Judaism,  you  tell  me  I  forget 
that  'Christians  are  educated  to  believe  their  religion 
an  outgrowth  and  reform  of  Judaism,  and  that  there- 
fore you  do  not  usually  separate  the  two. '  I  must 
beg  you  to  remember,  in  turn,  that  Jews  are  educated 
to  believe  that  Christianity  is  an  outgrowth  and  per- 
version of  Judaism,  against  which  our  very  existence 
is  an  eternal  protest.  If  Judaism  proper  had  died 
at  the  birth  of  Christianity,  and  were  only  known 
to  the  world  to-daj'  through  the  medium  of  Christian 
ideas,  I  might  possibly  acknowledge  that  in  prais- 
ing Christianity  you  praise  Judaism.  But  from  my 
standpoint  of  birth  and  education  they  are  two  dis- 
tinct and  separate  forces,  and  when  any  writer  asserts 
the  superiority  of  Christianit}^  we  Jews  logically 
demand  that  he  shall  prove  the  introduction  by  his 
faith  of  moral  ideas  and  social  reforms  which  do  not 
rightfully  pertain  to  our  code  and  creed.  If  you  had 
gone  more  fully  into  Judaism  you  say  you  would 
have  been  obliged  to  admit  that  it  permitted  slavery 
(so  does  Christianity  to  this  day),  blood-revenge, 
free  divorce  by  the  husband,  and  polygamy.  If  by 
'blood-revenge  '  you  refer  to  the  penal  code  of  the 
Jews,  'an  eye  for  an  eye,'  etc.,  I  am  not  aware  that 
it  differs  in  any  respect  from  the  penal  code  of  the 
Christians  to-day  in  the  most  civilized  countries  — 'a 
life  for  a  life.'     If  you  had  gone  a  little  farther  still, 


^T.  56j       LETTER  FROM  MISS  LAZARUS  393 

you  would  have  found  that  capital  punishment  was 
so  repugnant  to  the  spirit  of  Jewish  legislation  that 
before  the  birth  of  Jesus  it  was  practically  abrogated, 
and  a  court  that  passed  one  sentence  of  death  in  seven 
years  was  known  as  the  'Court  of  Murderers.' 

"You  say  Judaism  'permitted  slavery';  but  you 
also  expressly  say  'no  direct  word  against  slavery 
ever  came  forth  from  the  lips  of  Jesus, '  nor  was  any 
command  against  it  uttered  until  nine  centuries  later. 
Mr.  Henry  George  says:  'This  very  day  the  only 
thing  that  stands  between  the  working  classes  and 
ceaseless  toil,  is  one  of  the  Mosaic  institutions  .  .  . 
that  there  is  one  day  in  the  week  that  the  working- 
man  may  call  his  own  ...  is  due  to  the  code  pro- 
mulgated in  the  Sinaitic  wilderness.'  I  am  quite 
willing  to  admit  with  you  that  the  'general  condi- 
tion '  of  Christian  countries  to-day  evinces,  on  the 
whole,  a  certain  degree  of  progress  bej^ond  that  of 
the  Roman  world;  the  point  where  we  differ  is  as  to 
the  cause  of  this  improvement.  I  attribute  it  to  the 
spread  of  rational  and  philosophical  ideas  —  you,  to 
the  spirit  of  Christianity.  I  consider  Christianity 
represented  by  her  greatest  and  most  powerful  insti- 
tution, the  Church  —  you  select  as  her  representatives 
obscure  and  virtuous  Christians  who  have  worked  in 
the  silence  and  the  dark,  and  who  may  be  matched 
with  an  equal  number  of  obscure  and  virtuous  Jews 
and  Mohammedans,  Romans,  and  Hindoos.  Seeing 
that  the  chief  advances  in  modern  science  have  been 
carried  on  under  the  protest  of  the  Christian  Church, 
that  every  inch  of  ground  gained  by  the  Galileos,  the 
Darwins,  the  Spencers,  has  been  the  subject  of  a 
separate  battle  with   the  partisans  of   the   Church, 


394  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1883 

bringing  upon  the  greatest  names  of  humanity  the 
abhorred  title  of  atheist,  and  often  making  their 
patient  lives  of  intellectual  research  a  prolonged 
martyrdom  —  seeing  that  many  of  the  best  and  wisest 
men  and  women  have  denied  the  authority  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  seeing  that  war,  murder, 
even  legalized  crime  are  to-day  found  existing  in 
full  force  in  the  very  centres  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion, you  will  pardon  me  for  refusing  to  accept  your 
conclusions." 

That  Mr.  Brace's  reverence  for  Jewish  moral  influ- 
ences was  greater  than  Miss  Lazarus  understood,  is 
shown  in  the  following  extract  from  a  paper  he 
wrote  at  about  this  time :  — 

"The  Jewish  power  was  and  is  still,  solely  a 
moral  power,  so  profound  and  universal  in  its  nature 
that  mankind  will  never  pass  beyond  the  spiritual 
conceptions,  or  frame  a  language  of  prayer  and 
praise  superior  to  the  words  of  that  humble  mountain 
tribe.  They  never  possessed  any  material  power 
which  could  be  considered  beside  the  great  despot- 
isms of  Asia  and  Africa  on  each  side  of  them,  and 
yet,  as  long  as  their  religious  ideals  were  faithfully 
preserved,  and  the  corruptions  of  the  neighboring 
mythologies  were  not  admitted,  no  merely  warlike 
force  could  conquer  them." 

In  May,  1883,  we  find  Mr.  Brace  in  correspond- 
ence with  Mr.  H.  C.  Lea  on  certain  new  studies 
interesting  him,  as  the  following  letters  show ;  — 


Mt.  56]  NEW  STUDIES  395 


To  H.  C.  Lea. 

Ches-knoll,  May  13,  1883. 

My  dear  Mr.  Lea ;  .  .  .  I  want  much  to  get  your 
opinion  on  a  point  in  your  studies.  What  a  won- 
derful legend  and  belief  is  that  of  Osiris,  and  how 
strangely  like  that  of  Christ!  What  is  the  explana- 
tion ?  I  can  think  of  three.  (I.)  It  is  a  nature-myth. 
But  the  moral  elements  would  not  be  explained  —  the 
suffering  for  men,  dying,  rising  again,  descending 
to  the  under-world,  and  becoming  the  Judge  and 
Saviour,  and  the  manifestation  of  God.  (H.)  It  is 
the  way  the  human  mind  looks  at  moral  truths.  But 
that  would  not  explain  all  the  features.  Why  should 
the  killed  God-man  be  the  Judge?  And  so  with 
other  features.  (HI.)  A  primeval  revelation  of 
the  Messiah  to  all  races.  Have  you  read  Bunsen's 
"Angel  Messiah"?     Please  give  me  your  guess. 

I  have  been  reading  deep  in  Mazdeism.  It  is  a 
very  natural  conception,  but  overlaid  with  a  fearful 
amount  of  ceremonial  and  nonsense. 

From  H.  C.  Lea. 

Delaware  Water  Gap,  May  16,  1883. 
My  dear  Mr.  Brace  :  .  .  .  There  are  few  religions 
which  have  not,  like  Mazdeism,  been  overlaid  with 
a  crowd  of  ceremonial  observances.  Islam,  indeed, 
is  almost  the  only  one.  The  Levitical  legislation  is 
almost  as  bad,  in  this  respect,  as  Mazdeism,  and  its 
development  by  the  Pharisees  and  Rabbinism  is  much 
worse.     All  relisfions  have  suffered  from  the  uni- 


396  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1883 

versal  desire  of  their  ministers  to  render  themselves 
indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  the  believer,  and  to 
earn  thereby  a  share  in  the  goods  of  this  world.  By 
the  way,  I  think  that  in  my  list  of  Mazdean  books, 
I  omitted  to  mention  Harlez's  complete  translation  of 
the  "  Avesta  "  in  French.  It  is  so  long  since  I  have 
looked  into  the  Egyptian  faith  that  I  do  not  feel  able 
at  the  moment  to  express  any  opinion  about  the  Osiris 
myth.  I  had  always  been  disposed  to  regard  it  as  a 
sun-myth,  though  I  am  by  no  means  inclined  to  the 
modern  theories  which  refer  all  mythologies  to  this 
source. 

Mr.  Brace  again  attended  the  Social  Science  Con- 
vention in  Saratoga  in  September,  and  there  had 
the  great  pleasure  of  forming  a  friendship  with 
the  Hindoo,  Mr.  Chunder  Mozoomdar,  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  and  author  of  "The 
Oriental  Christ."  In  the  short  time  that  Mr. 
Mozoomdar  was  in  America,  he  made  a  profound 
impression  upon  many  by  the  beauty  of  his  face 
and  expression,  and  the  deep  spirituality  of  his  tone 
in  his  public  addresses.  Mr.  Mozoomdar  became 
Mr.  Brace's  guest  during  his  stay  in  New  York, 
and  his  host  asked  several  clergymen  to  meet  him  at 
luncheon  to  arrange  for  Mr.  Mozoomdar's  lectures 
in  New  York.  "A  high  Brahminical  symposium," 
he  called  the  party.  The  impression  which  this 
noble  spirit  from  the  Orient  made  upon  Mr.  Brace 
is  shown  in  the  two  letters  which  follow:  — 


^T.  57]  CHUNDER  MOZOOMDAR  397 

To  Dr.  Hoivard. 

Ches-knoll,  Oct.  28,  1883. 

Dear  George :  We  had  a  most  interesting  lunch- 
party.  Drs.  Taylor  (Congregational)  and  Rylance 
(Episcopal)  and  Williams  (Unitarian),  etc.,  etc., 
were  there.  We  have  had  Mozoomdar  ever  since, 
and  I  have  arranged  his  campaign  in  New  York.  I 
never  met  a  man  that  impressed  me  so  much  relig- 
iously—  a  true  Oriental  saint  and  mystic.  I  shall 
always  think  of  him  as  I  saw  him  yesterday,  —  a 
draped,  reverend  figure  on  the  top  of  the  Palisades 
worshipping,  while  L —  and  I  watched  him  from 
another  peak.     His  prayers  are  wonderful. 


To  a  Friend. 

Ches-knoll,  Nov.  11,  1883. 

My  dear  Miss  M — ;  We  have  had  a  wonderful 
blessing  in  this  house  for  a  week,  in  the  person  of 
the  saintly  Hindoo,  Mozoomdar.  He  seems  like  one 
of  the  ancient  apostles.  I  never  met  a  man  who  so 
"lives  in  God."  He  seems  to  raise  us  all  to  a  higher 
sphere;  his  prayers  are  the  breathing  upwards  of  a 
soul;  he  is  in  perpetual  communion  with  the  Father. 
He  loves  Christ  deeply  and  fervently.  Have  you 
read  his  "Oriental  Christ"?  Do!  He  speaks  so 
beautifully  of  Buddha.  It  gives  one  new  hopes  of 
that  land,  that  such  men  (non-Christian)  live  and 
work  there.  May  God  raise  us  upwards  to  such 
unworldly  and  spiritual  communion ! 


398  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1883 

Something  of  the  impression  which  Mr.  Mozoom- 
dar  made  upon  his  host  during  these  precious  days 
was  felt  by  those  who  visited  Mr.  Brace,  as  one  of 
the  strongest  charms  of  his  society,  and  it  cannot 
be  amiss  to  insert  here  a  letter  touching  upon  this, 
written  to  Mrs.  Brace  soon  after  his  death,  by  a 
friend.  What  he  said  of  his  friend,  that  "his 
prayers  are  the  breathing  upwards  of  a  soul,"  was 
often  said  of  him. 

"  How  often  I  recall  those  sacred  hours  when,  after 
the  toil  for  the  public  service,  Mr.  Brace  read  aloud 
to  us,  amid  the  beautiful  scenery  of  the  Hudson,  and 
in  his  refined  and  cherished  home,  passages  from 
Martineau,  Emerson,  and  the  poets,  such  thoughts 
as  'Made  for  Peace.'  It  seems  to  me,  as  I  look  back 
on  those  sweet  visits  to  your  dear  home,  that  nothing 
in  this  world  is  nearer  heaven  than  those  hours  were 
when,  in  the  beautiful  library,  with  you  sitting  near 
him  and  the  children  gathered  about,  Mr.  Brace 
conducted  the  family  devotions,  and  then  read  aloud 
from  his  favorite  authors,  finishing  the  day  with  a 
walk  around  the  piazza  to  view  the  moonlight 
reflected  on  the  quiet  waters  of  the  Hudson,  and 
to  see  the  solemn  shadows  resting  on  the  Palisades. 
I  never  felt  anything  more  beautiful  in  my  whole 
life."  The  passages  of  which  his  friend  speaks 
were,  besides  those  from  modern  sources,  selections 
from  the  Mozarabic  and  other  ancient  Sacramenta- 


^T.  57]  CHARACTERISTIC   TRAITS  399 

lies,  and  the  collect  he  read  oftenest  was,  "  O  Thou, 
who  art  peace  everlasting,  whose  chosen  reward  is 
the  gift  of  peace,  and  who  hast  taught  us  that  the 
peacemakers  are  Thy  children,  pour  Thy  sweet  peace 
into  our  hearts,  that  everything  discordant  may 
utterly  vanish,  and  all  that  makes  for  peace  be 
sweet  to  us  forever." 

He  led  the  talk,  and  no  unworthy  topics  were 
ever  possible  under  his  guidance.  A  friend  used 
to  say,  "If  the  talk  becomes  frivolous,  there  is  no 
rebuke  from  Mr.  Brace,  but  in  some  way  the  con- 
versation comes  to  an  end,  and  he  is  heard  saying, 
'Look  at  those  great  clouds.  Are  they  nebulous  ?  ' 
No  rebuke  was  meant.  He  simply  had  no  interest 
in  the  subject,  and  we  were  brought  back  to  his 
level."  Hearing  criticism  of  persons  was  a  great 
affliction  to  him,  and  he  was  often  heard  to  say  that 
a  pure  and  charitably  minded  person  may  go  through 
life  and  deal  with  a  vast  variety  of  people  without 
distinctly  making  up  his  mind  about  them.  He 
sees  what  is  good  and  pleasant  in  them;  he  enjoys 
that.  "You  may  have  very  pleasant  intercourse 
with  your  neighbors  without  supposing  it  necessary 
to  rake  over  their  cellars  and  sewers  to  see  how 
they  live.  There  is  a  custom  among  purely  worldly 
persons  —  especially  characteristic  of  the  French 
educated  classes  —  which  might  well  be  imitated 
by  Christians.     It  is  the  habit  of  attributing  noble 


400  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1884 

sentiments  to  others,  and  of  appealing  to  them,  even 
where  the  one  side  knows  little  of  the  other.  There 
ought  to  be  a  similar  and  a  higher  Christian  honor. 
Our  first  impulse  and  our  custom  should  be  to  give 
the  most  generous  explanation  of  anything  uncer- 
tain, and  always  to  assign  the  good  motive,  if  we 
do  not  know  the  bad.  .  .  .  With  parents,  often  the 
best  check  on  gossip  in  the  family,  is  to  create  an 
interest  in  greater  subjects.  The  especial  promoter 
of  petty  gossip  is  a  lack  of  mental  occupation." 

But  two  letters  of  general  interest  tell  us  of  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1884 :  — 

To  Dr.  Howard. 

Jan.  19,  1884. 
My  dear  George  .•  .  .  .  I  am  speering  as  to  the 
influence  of  Christianity  on  art.^  Did  it  not  bring 
in  the  cathedral  and  the  Madonna?  Of  course  the 
Faith  acting  on  the  German  temperament  and  Roman 
ideas.  I  wonder  whether  the  deficiency  of  Buddhism 
in  art  did  not  come  from  want  of  the  Christian  ideas 
—  the  value  of  the  individual  and  the  Fatherhood  of 
God.  But  race  also  tells.  I  have  been  reading  a 
great  deal  about  Buddha.  (Get  Lillie's  "Life,"  etc.) 
He  is  intensely  interesting,  but  the  ideas  become 
more  misty,  the  deeper  you  go,  and  relative  chronol- 
ogy with   Christianity  is  uncertain.     It  looks  as  if 

1  In   connection  witli  a  fourth   edition  of  his  book,  "  Gesta 
Christi." 


iET.  57]  SPRING  ON  THE  RIVER  401 

the  Essenes  had  got  a  great  deal  from  Buddha, 
and  so  Christ  Himself  have  been  influenced.  These 
thoughts  of  love  and  utter  self-sacrifice  were  in  the 
air  then.  Is  not  that  a  strange  passage  about  eunuchs 
an  Essenic  or  Buddhist  one  ?  It  never  seemed  Christ- 
like. But  Christ  in  His  want  of  Total  Abstinence 
was  not  Buddhistic  or  Essene.  I  understand  Buddha 
much  better  since  knowing  Mozoomdar.  They  are 
all  very  ascetic. 

P.S.  Received  five  thousand  dollars  the  other  day 
for  Children's  Aid  Society  from  a  gentleman  I  never 
met,  who  wishes  to  be  anonymous,  and  notice  of 
bequest  (ten  thousand  dollars)  from  a  Jew,  and  of 
six  hundred  dollars  from  a  Catholic. 


To  L.  W. 

Ches-knoll,  May  18,  1884. 

My  dear  L  —  .*  The  river  an  unruffled  lake,  banks 
in  first  fresh  green,  woods  Avhite  with  dogwood  and 
fragrant  with  apple-blossoms,  —  you  know  it  all,  — 
vases  brilliant  with  pinks  and  columbine,  etc.  A 
day  to  live  in!  And  such  a  week  of  anxiety  to  the 
business  community!  Banks  and  brokers  failing, 
and  some  very  prominent  men  caught  in  bad  specu- 
lation. .  .  .  This  week  we  open  our  new  lodging- 
house,  and  soon  our  sanitarium,  so  I  am  very  busy. 

Mr,  Brace's  enjoyment  of  the  varying  seasons,  as 
he  watched  them  come  and  go,  was  felt  by  every  one 
who  was  privileged  to  be  with  him  in  his  country 
2d 


402  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1884 

home,  and  his  exuberant  vitality  seemed  to  find  its 
fullest  satisfaction  as  each  spring  arrived,  with  its 
beauty  of  woods  and  wild  flowers.  As  the  length- 
ening days  gave  still  some  hours  of  daylight  after 
his  return  from  town,  no  weight  of  responsibility 
in  the  work  he  had  left  appeared  to  mar  his  peaceful 
enjoyment  of  the  woods ;  and  his  Saturday  after- 
noons were  occasions  of  especial  happiness  as,  after 
a  morning  of  work  in  his  study,  he  rowed  his 
family  and  friends  across  the  river,  and  guided 
them  through  wood-paths  to  the  heights  of  the  Pali- 
sades above.  He  knew  the  sheltered  nooks  where 
the  first  hepaticas  w'ere  to  be  found,  the  rocky 
ledges  where  the  columbine  clung,  and  returned 
from  these  excursions  with  botanist  case  hung  from 
his  shoulder,  and  his  hand  full  of  azalea  and  rock- 
pink  and  dogwood.  The  sick  and  unhappy  among 
those  dear  to  him  were  especially  in  his  thoughts 
during  these  peaceful  wanderings,  and  the  early 
morning  saw  Mr.  Brace  on  his  way  to  the  city 
carrying  huge  bunches  of  his  favorite  flowers  to 
brighten  the  sick-rooms  of  his  friends. 

The  sanitarium  for  sick  infants,  the  building  of 
which  Mr.  Brace  had  superintended  during  the 
summer  before,  was  finally,  in  1884,  ready  for  occu- 
pation, and  he  was  made  happy  by  seeing  everything 
in  order  for  this  valuable  part  of  the  work  of  the 


^T.  58]  OPENING  OF   SANITARIUM  403 

Children's  Aid  Society.  It  was  the  fulfilment  of  a 
dream  of  many  years,  and  stood  now  an  ornamental 
feature  of  the  shore  at  Coney  Island.  It  was  very 
complete  in  its  arrangements,  with  external  gal- 
leries and  stairways,  little  separated  cottages  joined 
by  covered  passages  to  the  main  house,  and  deep 
verandas  where  the  mothers  could  sit  with  their 
babies  in  the  fresh,  invigorating  sea-air.  The  need 
for  it  was  proved  beyond  a  doubt  before  the  weekly 
parties  had  been  twdce  taken  down  to  the  island, 
and  the  immediate  revival  of  apparently  dying 
babies  was  a  striking  proof  that  in  many  cases  their 
desperate  condition  was  merely  from  lack  of  proper 
food  and  fresh  air.  It  was  soon  found,  also,  that 
the  Health  Home  was  as  valuable  for  the  poor 
mothers  as  for  the  children.  Many  of  them  had 
never  known  so  comfortable  and  neat  a  spot  before, 
and  their  ignorance  of  the  simplest  facts  of  hygiene 
and  cleanliness  was  appalling.  During  this  sum- 
mer eleven  hundred  mothers  and  infants  were  taken 
down  to  the  home  for  a  stay  of  some  days,  and  about 
eleven  hundred  more  went  on  day  excursions. 

But  this  new  branch  of  the  society  had  itfe  at- 
tendant anxieties.  It  was  a  large  expense,  and 
Mr.  Brace  was  not  sure  for  the  first  few  sum- 
mers whether  money  enough  would  be  given  by  the 
charitable  public  to  justify  the  outlay.  Happily  it 
never  had  to  cease  its  usefulness,  though  there  were 


404  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1884 

summers  when  it  closed  earlier  than  was  wished, 
on  account  of  lack  of  funds.  From  Bath  on  Long 
Island  (whither  he  went  generally  with  Mrs. 
Brace,  to  pass  a  few  days  before  their  departure  to 
the  mountains,  in  order  to  see  the  work  of  the  two 
homes  now  organized)  he  writes,  on  July  5th:  — 

"...  We  had  a  very  quiet  Fourth,  varied  by  a 
very  pathetic  glimpse  of  our  sanitarium;  so  many 
sick  and  deformed  children,  and  poor  mothers.  It 
is  proving  to  be  a  great  success ;  the  infants  recover 
immediately;  only  one  has  died,  and  she  was  dying 
when  she  came.  .  .  .  We  have  had  a  delightful 
visit  here,  and  have  been  of  much  use  in  our  new 
and  grand  experiment  with  the  sick  little  ones.  But 
I  shall  be  glad  to  escape  all  responsibility  in  the 
mountains.  It  is  a  very  hard  year  to  raise  funds  for 
these  charities." 

Mr.  Brace  speaks  of  escaping  all  responsibility  in 
the  mountains.  His  devoted  assistant  in  charge  of 
the  office,  Mr.  Holste,  tried,  not  only  during  the 
vacation  time  in  the  summer,  but  throughout  the 
year,  to  save  Mr.  Brace  from  the  small  details  and 
annoyances  coming  up  of  necessity  in  every  large 
business  concern.  During  the  months  of  daily  at- 
tendance at  the  office,  Mr.  Holste  would  be  on  the 
watch  for  him  every  morning,  and  on  hearing  on  the 
door  of  the  private  hall  the  gentle  scratching  which 
signalled  his  arrival,  would  go  out  and  report  to  him 


^T.  58]      LETTER  FROM  MR.  MOZOOMDAR  405 

all  that  had  happened  since  his  departure  the  day 
before.  When,  in  his  devoted  anxiety  to  save  Mr. 
Brace  every  annoyance,  he  used  to  apologize  for 
recounting  all  the  petty  details,  Mr.  Brace  would 
reply  that  "the  spirit  followed  the  flesh  with  him," 
and  when  he  was  there,  his  whole  mind  and  atten- 
tion were  there,  as  when  he  was  away  he  left  it  all 
behind.  Mr.  Holste,  however,  never  felt  that  the 
concerns  of  the  society  could  be  so  completely 
banished  from  his  mind  for  any  length  of  time,  as 
he  claimed;  for  on  one  occasion,  during  one  of  Mr. 
Brace's  absences  from  home,  upon  Mr.  Holste's 
omitting  his  daily  letter  for  two  or  three  days,  he 
grew  anxious,  and  wrote  in  some  concern  to  know 
if  anything  was  going  wrong  in  society  matters. 

From  Lake  Placid,  during  this  summer,  Mr. 
Brace  wrote  to  Mr.  Mozoomdar,  and  received  the 
following  characteristic  reply :  — 


From  Protap  Chunder  Mozoomdar. 

Peace  Cottage,  Calcutta, 
Sept.  6,  1884. 

Ml/  dear  Mr.  Brace :  You  write  from  Lake 
"Placid,"  and  I  reply  from  "Peace"  Cottage. 
Peace  and  placidity  always  go  together.  You  and 
I  always  agreed.  But  since  returning  home  care 
and  trouble,  all  relating  to  our  infant  Church,  have 


406  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1884 

so  beset  me  that  I  have  had  to  forego  a  great  deal  of 
what  I  would  most  willingly  do. 

Your  letter  of  July  31st,  received  only  two  days 
ago,  suddenly  arouses  me.  I  look  back  to  the  past, 
that  past  which,  though  only  a  twelvemonth  old, 
seems  to  have  receded  far,  far  behind  the  events 
which  cast  a  deep  shadow  around  me.  The  autumn 
leaves  were  strewing  the  ground  with  gold,  the 
Palisades  still  wore  their  crown  of  yellow,  the  River 
Hudson  smoothly  flowed  within  its  banks,  when  I 
left  your  home.  Everything  is  so  vivid  in  my  mind. 
The  whole  memory  of  my  American  visit  is  peopled 
with  scenes,  objects,  enjoyments,  which  seem  to  have 
the  shadow  and  glamour  of  another,  abetter  world,  for 
me.  No,  no,  dear  Mr.  Brace,  I  have  not  forgotten 
you  nor  yours ;  I  do  not  forget  so  soon.  But  impres- 
sions crowd  upon  me;  duties  urge  me  on;  the  myste- 
ries of  Providence  so  encompass  me  that  I  have  to 
move  on  and  on,  and  hardly  find  the  time  to  look 
back.  Truly  the  Father's  work  is  a  reality  which 
drives  a  man's  self  out  of  him.  When  Jesus  said, 
Think  not  of  the  morrow.  He  indicated  the  depth  of 
absorption  into  which  the  faithful  of  God  drift  often 
in  sjiite  of  themselves.  You  rightly  say  in  the  East 
men  are  nearer  to  the  heart  of  things,  you  in  the 
West  work  out  the  will  force.  And  we  are  both 
about  equally  related  to  the  mind  and  meaning  of 
the  world. 

I  have  not  read  Sinnet's  "Occult  Buddhism."  I 
know  a  good  deal  of  Sinnet  and  his  school,  and  I 
must  honestly  say  I  have  little  respect  for  them. 
This  occultism  is  proving  to  be  the  bane  of  our  young 
men.     There  is  plenty  of  conjuring  and  necromancy 


^T.  58]  RELIGIONS  OF    THE  EAST  407 

in  India,  and  we  need  not  import  an}'  more  from  the 
waifs  and  strays  of  Europe.  I  have  been  hearing  of 
Renan's  book.  Renan  is  only  one  among  many 
examples  of  the  utter  incapacity  of  European  imag- 
ination to  enter  into  the  depths  of  the  Orient.  I 
have  admiration  for  his  genius;  his  eloquence  and 
warmth  have  almost  an  Eastern  glow.  But  it  is 
artistic,  superficial,  unreal.  He  cannot  understand 
Sakya  Muni.  What  to  him  is  "annihilation  and 
atheism  "  is  to  me  the  peace  of  Christ  that  is  past 
all  understanding.  I  crave  Nirvana,  as  much  as  any 
Buddhist  did,  by  which  Sakya  meant  "the  eradica- 
tion of  the  disease  of  covetousness,  aversion,  and 
delusion."  Nirvana  means  the  acquirement  of  "per- 
manence, joy,  personality,  and  purity."  Is  this  anni- 
hilation? is  this  atheism?  How  often  do  I  think  that 
Western  scholars  ought  to  learn  in  the  East  of  the 
religions  of  the  East.  But  they  are  always  led  away 
as  captives  to  research,  criticism,  and  a  meretricious 
glare  of  omniscience  in  so-called  Orientalists.  You 
have  a  true  and  profound  sympathy  with  the  aspira- 
tions and  genius  of  our  continent,  into  which  Emer- 
son had  penetrated  so  truly.  But  I  must  not  bother 
you  with  the  laudation  of  the  East,  especially  as  every 
day  the  East  and  West  are  coming  nearer. 

I  am  glad  you  have  taken  interest  in  some  of  the 
little  articles  I  have  now  and  then  sent.  I  have  sent 
a  somewhat  long  discourse  to  the  "  Christian  Union  " 
on  Hindoo  women.  If  the  editor  publishes  it,  you 
may  find  it  interesting.  And  it  may  give  you  some 
information  over  and  above  what  you  publish  in 
"Gesta  Christi,"  about  Indian  home  life.  Your 
book  is  a  mine  of  instruction  to  me.     I  will  use  it 


408  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1884 

for  many  and  many  a  day.  Kindly  remember  me 
with  sincere  gratitude  to  Mrs.  Brace.  The  young 
ladies  must  still  remember  a  good  deal  of  my  awk- 
ward Hindoo  ways.  If  you  ever  see  Dr.  Newman, 
Heber  Newton,  or  any  of  those  who  kindly  permitted 
me  to  speak  in  their  churches,  tell  them  my  very  kind 
regards. 

The  mind  of  the  Eternal,  who  can  know?  He 
brings  together  and  relates  souls,  He  kindles  the 
flame  of  brotherly  love  in  hearts  that  are  foreign. 
May  His  spirit  draw  us  nearer  and  nearer  in  that 
deathless  union  which  is  hidden  in  like-mindedness 
with  Him. 

The  presidential  election  of  1884  aroused  Mr. 
Brace's  interest  to  the  full,  and  the  following  let- 
ters to  Dr.  Howard  and  Mr.  Redmayne  sufficiently 
indicate  his  own  position :  — 

To  Dr.  Howard. 

Bath,  Sept.  14,  1884. 
My  dear  G-eorge  ;  ...  In  public  matters,  my  hope 
is  to  give  the  rising  spirit  of  corruption  in  all  classes 
such  a  lesson  in  this  election  as  to  reach  the  whole 
peojDle,  both  those  "on  the  make"  and  those  out  of 
politics.  I  think  it  will  be  done;  and  will  be  worth 
four  years  of  the  Democrats,  who  will  soon  hang 
themselves.  I  don't  meet  a  man  of  the  moralist  class 
who  isn't  with  us.  .  .  .  Thanks  for  the  sermon  on 
stock-gambling;  it  is  capital  and  most  needed.  .  .  . 
But,  dear  friend  and  pastor,  don't  you  see  that  Blaine 


^T.  58]       AN  INDEPENDENT  IN  POLITICS  409 

is  the  incarnation  of  that  money-getting  spirit,  insen- 
sitive to  honor  and  strict  integrity?  His  success 
would  be  a  carnival  of  the  gambling  passion,  and 
would  sap  the  weak  sense  of  judicial  and  official 
honor  among  our  young  men.  I  do  not  see  how  any 
one  could  read  his  letters  and  not  feel  the  low  senti- 
ment of  honor  in  them.  We  could  not  imagine 
Lincoln  or  Garfield  even  thinking  of  reminding  a 
business  friend  of  a  judicial  decision  for  the  sake  of 
making  money.  Oh,  brother,  apply  your  noble  ser- 
mon to  present  political"  conditions !  I  shall  vote  (I 
think)  for  St.  John. 

To  E.  B.  Redmayne. 

Ches-knoll,  Oct.  26,  1884. 
My  dear  Mr.  Redmayne :  .  .  .  We  are  deeply 
absorbed  here  in  endeavoring  to  cleanse  the  old  party 
which  was  baptized  in  blood  and  has  led  us  to  so 
many  noble  victories  by  defeating  it.  We  (the 
"  Independents  ")  expect  to  turn  the  scale,  and  elect 
a  "  Democratic  "  President,  and  thereby  purify  our 
politics.  But  this  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  crystal- 
lizing of  parties,  and  the  formation  of  a  new  Free 
Trade  (or  low  tariff)  and  Civil  Service  Reform 
party.  Our  disease  is  the  corruption  and  want  of 
honor  of  politicians.  We  are  curing  it  by  drastic 
methods.  You  will  soon  find  it  breaking  out  with 
you  [in  England].  For  that  reason,  I  should  want 
to  keep  one  branch  of  government  as  a  Senate.  It 
is  a  dyke  against  some  popular  floods.  It  has  saved 
us  many  a  time. 


410  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1884 

As  to  "distribution  of  wealth,"  that  is  still  the 
great  problem.  We  are  looking  towards  measures 
for  controlling  monopolies,  and  accumulation,  and 
perhaps  the  right  of  bequest.  Democracy  is  a  sworn 
foe  to  monopolies,  but  is  often  tripped  up  in  the 
struggle.  I  don't  think  your  rapid  rush  towards 
Democracy  is  an  entirely  cheering  spectacle;  still 
you  cannot  help  it. 

I  want  much  to  ask  you,  as  a  manufacturer,  some 
questions.  (I.)  Would  not  American  free  trade 
make  us  a  dangerous  competitor  in  Asia,  South 
America,  and  in  shipping?  (II.)  Would  you  not 
lose  as  much  as  you  would  gain  by  it?  (III.)  Would 
not,  on  the  whole,  production  gain  in  England  by 
shorter  hours?  The  Middle  Age  builders  of  the 
cathedrals  worked  fewer  hours  than  the  modern  Eng- 
lish mason  —  and  how  much  better  the  work !  Your 
workmen  spend  fewer  hours  than  the  French  and 
German ;  and  are  more  efficient.  You  have  shorter 
work-days  than  we,  but  then  we  have  always  land 
to  turn  to.  (IV. )  Have  you  any  new  means  of 
elevating  the  operative  class  ?  especially  the  girls  ? 
New  York  has  become  a  tremendous  manufacturing 
city. 

The  letter  from  Mr.  Brace  which  elicited  from 
Mr.  John  Morley  the  following  interesting  reply, 
has  unfortunately  been  lost.  "The  House  of 
Lords,"  he  says,  writing  on  Nov.  2,  1884,  from 
London,  "is  the  very  representative  and  centre  of 
those  impulses  which  make  what  you  supj)Ose  to  be 
'popular  gushes.'     The  dispatch  of  Gordon!     But 


^T.  58]        LETTER  FROM  JOIIX  MORLEY  411 

that  was  pressed  most  hardly  upon  the  government 
by  the  very  classes  who  are  masters  in  the  House  of 
Lords.  Wars,  extensions,  annexations,  frivolous 
diplomatizings,  —  all  these  mischiefs  are  encour- 
aged by  the  House  of  Lords,  not  checked  by  it.  I 
wholly  dissent  from  such  notions  as  that  university 
men  are  specially  apt  in  politics,  or  are  v/iser, 
cooler,  steadier,  than  artisans.  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge Universities  return  two  members  apiece,  and 
the  w^hole  four  are  invariably  Tories,  usually  Tories 
of  the  more  stupid  type. 

"  With  you  the  Senate  is  the  seat  of  real  power, 
as  I  understand;  with  us  it  is  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. I  am  against  any  device  that  puts  the  best 
men  anywhere  but  in  the  strongest  chamber.  What- 
ever your  machinery  is,  the  final  resort  is  public 
opinion.  Public  opinion  is  often  wrong.  You 
cannot  help  it.  You  cannot  resist  it  by  artificial 
checks.  If  we  had  only  one  chamber,  the  electors 
would  be  the  more  careful  in  their  choice,  knowing 
how  momentous  its  results  might  be.  In  our  pres- 
ent and  coming  difficulties  we  need  a  strong, 
clear,  self-reliant  government  and  legislature.  Our 
difiiculties  are  great  and  they  are  thickening. 
I  am  against  the  device  for  si^litting  us  up  in 
groups,  and  paralyzing  the  executive.  If  you  see 
anything  to  say  against  all  this,  please  to  launch 
another  sheet  of  note-paper.      With  sincere  thanks 


412  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1885 

for  your    writing   to   me,    and   very  kind  regards, 
etc." 

During  the  year  of  1885,  upon  which  we  are 
now  entering  in  Mr.  Brace's  correspondence,  there 
occurred  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs  in 
New  York  a  step  in  advance  which  was  a  source 
of  immense  aid  to  him  as  the  friend  of  the  children 
of  the  poor.  Allusion  has  more  than  once  been 
made  to  his  wish  that  there  might  be  more  strenuous 
effort  made  in  New  York  to  carry  out  the  law  com- 
pelling education.  Writing  during  this  year,  he 
says : — 

"It  is  pleasant  to  chronicle  an  advance  in  this 
important  matter,  mainly  owing  to  the  efforts  of 
the  superintendent  of  the  public  schools,  Mr.  John 
Jasper,  who  is  determined  to  execute  the  law.  how- 
ever defective  it  may  be.  The  greater  proportion  of 
the  shops  and  factories  of  the  city  now  compel  their 
youthful  employes  —  under  fourteen  years  —  to  pro- 
duce a  certificate  from  the  authorities  of  the  school 
where  they  attend,  of  at  least  fourteen  weeks'  attend- 
ance, or  twenty-eight  weeks'  half  attendance.  This 
they  are  obliged  to  show  to  the  truant-agent  or  other 
official  visiting  the  place  of  employment.  Then, 
very  wisely,  an  Italian  truant-agent  has  been  em- 
ployed, and  he,  in  company  with  our  agents,  has 
thoroughly  explored  the  poorest  Italian  quarters  of 
the  rag-pickers  and  organ-grinders  near  the  Five 
Points  and   in  other  districts,   and   induced  many 


^T.  58]      EFFORTS  OF   TRUANT-OFFICERS  413 

hundreds  of  these  dirty  and  ignorant  chikhen  to 
attend  our  industrial  schools  or  half-time  schools. 
The  truants  and  hard  subjects  from  the  public 
schools  are  brought  to  all  our  industrial  schools  by 
the  truant-officers,  and  are  cleaned  and  provided  for, 
and  finally  reformed  so  far  as  is  practicable  by  our 
experienced  teachers.  After  a  sufficient  training  of 
this  kind  they  are  again  forwarded  on  to  the  'ward 
schools.' 

"  Our  night  schools  in  the  lodging-houses  reach  a 
considerable  number  of  the  street- wandering  class,  as 
a  strong  pressure  is  brought  by  the  superintendent 
to  force  every  boy  into  school  during  the  winter 
months.  Still,  both  charity  and  law  fail  as  yet  of 
fully  reaching  all  the  little  bootblacks  and  newsboys 
on  the  streets,  and  many  are  growing  up  without 
school  training.  The  provision  so  often  spoken  of 
in  these  reports  is  still  needed  in  our  law  for  popular 
education ;  namely,  the  right  of  the  police  to  arrest 
a  street-wandering  boy  or  girl  who  cannot  show  a 
certificate  of  school  attendance  during  at  least  four- 
teen weeks'  full  time  When  this  becomes  a  law,  we 
shall  have  universal  school  training  in  New  York." 

The  letters  of  this  year  tell  with  more  than  usual 
fulness  of  his  reading  and  other  interests.  The 
first  of  those  below  is  from  Mr.  Francis  Parkman  in 
acknowledgment  of  Mr.  Brace's  appreciation  of  his 
new  book,  "Montcalm  and  Wolfe,"  and  then  follow 
several  of  general  interest.  "Many  thanks,"  Mr. 
Parkman  writes,  "  for  your  kind  letter  of  the  24th. 


414  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1885 

Some  of  the  expressions  in  it  were  especially  wel- 
come as  showing  that  I  had  in  some  measure  suc- 
ceeded in  conveying  the  impressions  at  which  I 
particularly  aimed.  Coming  as  it  does  from  one 
whose  writings  and  life  give  him  so  high  a  title  to 
esteem,  and  whose  career  I  have  for  many  years 
regarded  with  interest,  I  value  it  as  one  of  the 
pleasantest  marks  of  literary  commendation  that  I 
have  ever  received.  Thank  you,  also,  for  the  book, 
which  has  not  yet  come,  but  will  no  doubt  soon 
appear." 

To  a  Friend. 

Ches-knoll,  Feb.  8,  1885. 

Dear  Miss  31— :  A  beautiful  Sunday  here  at 
Ches-knoll,  the  river  in  waves  of  snow  and  ice,  but  a 
spring  sunlight.  We  are  fall  of  George  Eliot's  life. 
What  a  vigorous  mental  training  for  a  novelist!  Is 
she  not  a  sweet,  interesting,  modest  creature?  I 
don't  like  literary  people  personally,  but  she  is  one 
to  love,  —  a  remarkable  jDersonality  better  even  than 
her  books ;  and  full  of  religious  spirit. 

I  have  been  thinking  much  about  Christ  lately, 
and  the  future  life,  and  the  like.  I  wonder  what 
agnostics  do  with  "Come  unto  me,"  etc.  I  suppose 
George  Eliot  would  say,  "  The  divinest  acme  of  sym- 
pathy ever  reached  by  man."  But  to  me  it  is  this 
divine  Being  gathering  into  His  bosom  all  the  tears 
and  wounds  and  sighs  and  sorrows  and  burdens  of 
humanity,  —  a  mountain  load  of  pain  and  grief,  — 


^T.  58]     THE  CLEVELAND  ADMINISTRATION      415 

and  assuaging  and  consoling  all.  This  is  One  whom 
to  know  and  love  would  be  eternal  life.  Don't  you 
think  so?  I  can  understand  that  to  touch  the  very 
hem  of  His  garment  would  be  health.  Do  you  not 
sometimes  feel  that  the  future  life  will  make  us 
almost  forget  this  ?  except  as  those  we  love  are  here. 
When  I  think  of  those  I  shall  hope  to  be  in  Eternity 
with,  there  are  not  very  many.  Will  you  think  it 
natural  that  to  know  you  there  seems  to  belong  to 
our  life  and  relations  here?  For  you  have  helped 
me,  and  perhaps  I  have  you.  But  alles  liegt  mit  Crott. 
Infinite  goodness  encircles  and  cradles  us,  and  will 
dispose  of  all. 

To  come  to  earth:  I  am  thrown  in  with  intimate 
advisers  and  friends  of  Cleveland.  All  looks  well. 
He  stands  firm  for  Civil  Service  Reform,  right  on 
silver,  progressive  on  the  tariff,  conservative  on  the 
treaties,  and  stiff  against  dynamite.  I  think  J.  Q. 
Adams  will  be  secretar}?^  in  the  post-office  (don't 
speak  of  it),  and  the  others  in  Cabinet  will  be  Bayard, 
Whitney,  Garner,  McDonald,  and  Hewitt  or  Man- 
ning possible.  I  think  we  shall  have  a  good  admin- 
istration, but  the  silver-storm  may  reach  us  at  any 
time. 

To  the  Same. 

Ches-knoll,  March  15,  1885. 
Dear  Miss  M — :  I  have  just  been  reading  a  very 
interesting  and  valuable  theological  book  on  tlie 
"  Continuity  of  Christian  Thought "  by  Professor 
Allen  of  Cambridge,  Episcopal  Theological  Semi- 
nary.    It  is  remarkably  liberal ;  the  account  of  the 


416  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1885 

philosophy  of  Clement  of  Alexandria  is  peculiarly- 
valuable.  Professor  A.  is  in  one  matter  too  orthodox 
for  me,  —  the  Trinity.  I  have  always  looked  on  that 
dogma  as  a  scholastic  inference  from  a  few  Bible 
words.  Yet  I  hold  the  divinity  of  Christ  as  the 
essential  doctrine  of  Christianity.  I  believe  with 
Clement  and  Professor  Allen  in  the  immanence  and 
manifestation  of  God  in  all  human  history  of  all 
races  and  religions ;  but  in  the  highest  manifestation 
in  Christ.  So,  and  so  only,  can  I  justify  God's  ways 
to  men.  A  third  manifestation  seems  unnecessary, 
and  the  Bible  language  can  be  explained  without  it. 
With  Professor  A.  and  Bushnell,  I  do  not  believe  in 
a  sacrificial  atonement,  but  an  "  at-one-ment "  and 
a  reconciliation  of  men,  not  God.  Ask  your  sister 
what  she  thinks  of  my  theology.  ...  I  am  finish- 
ing my  annual  examinations  of  some  five  thousand 
children,  —  very  laborious,  but  valuable.  I  get 
rather  used  up  by  it. 

To  Dr.  Howard. 

Ches-knoli>,  June  11,  1885. 
My  dear  George :  I  am  just  reading  with  intense 
interest  that  discussion  between  Herbert  Spencer  and 
Fr.  Harrison  on  "Religion."  Do  read  it  (Apple- 
ton's).  H.  S.  turns  out  more  religious  than  I 
thought,  and  believes  in  Pantheism,  in  a  mysteri- 
ous energy,  like  personality,  only  far  higher,  acting 
in  all  matter  and  mind,  from  which  all  proceeds  and 
in  which  all  subsists.  His  objections  to  a  human 
personality  in  this  are  very  keen;  like  Bushnell's, 


JEt.  59]     CHILDREN'S   AID  SOCIETY  AFFAIRS      417 

but  do  not  touch  infinite  affections,  or  the  possibility 
of  an  infinite  succession  of  ideas.  He  calls  it  or  him 
the  "Unknowable."  F.  H.  attacks  him  most  wittily 
on  worshipping  or  loving  (a;"),  or  an  unknown  quan- 
tity, raised  to  an  infinite  power.  He  is  ver}-  sharp 
and  witty.  H.  S.  answers  by  attacking  his  religion, 
the  worship  of  humanity.  An  Italian  savant  sums 
up  very  clearly.  I  am  most  struck  by  the  evolu- 
tionist admitting  a  God  —  or  a  Power  —  within  and 
without  ourselves,  making  for  order  and  righteous- 
ness ;  mysterious,  awful,  unknowable,  but  not  a  force 
alone,  with  something  like  ourselves,  only  infinitely 
greater  and  better.  If  a  mind,  not  one  like  ours 
reasoning  from  premises,  or  with  memory,  or  acting 
from  present  motives,  or  changing  with  time,  etc. 
.  .  .  We  are  having  great  times  with  our  seaside 
work.  ...  It  has  been  a  year  of  much  strain  and 
anxiety,  and  I  feel  it  physically.  Think  of  it!  Four 
or  five  lawsuits ;  the  Devil  in  some  of  our  boys  at  the 
West;  a  new  lodging-house  and  plans  to  settle  with 
conflicting  tastes;  Summer  Home  to  get  funds  for 
and  open;  sanitarium  to  organize  and  raise  money 
for;  a  new  superintendent  to  settle,  and  all  usual 
work.  ...  I  have  been  reading  Schopenhauer.  He 
is  like  a  Buddhist,  but  less  gentle. 

From  Protap  Chunder  Mozoomdar. 

KuRSEONG,  Nov.  23,  1885. 
My  dear  Mr.  Brace :  Every  message  from  you  is 
warmly  welcome.     It  seems  to  be  full  of  the  mellow 
fragrance  of  the  woods  and  apples  of  America.     I 
2b 


418  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1885 

am  delighted  to  hear  you  like  my  occasional  contri- 
butions to  the  "  Union  "  and  "  Register."  I  write  as 
the  impulse  comes,  feeling  nervous  when  I  at  first 
put  the  thoughts  on  paper,  but  glad  and  grateful  to 
find  afterwards  that  men  like  them.  The  editor 
of  the  "  Christian  Union "  often  demands  articles, 
and  I  am  as  often  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  write 
upon. 

Our  struggles  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  have  not 
ended.  I  have  had  to  go  through  a  long  and  bitter 
persecution,  but  I  am  thankful  to  say  it  has  not  over- 
whelmed me.  In  all  apostolical  churches,  perhaps, 
the  servants  of  God  have  once  for  all  to  strive  against 
the  whole  world.  Once  for  all  a  man  must  labor 
in  utter,  absolute  loneliness,  with  nothing  but  the 
august  Infinite  to  befriend  him.  And  if  he  can  out- 
watch  the  night,  that  wanes  fast  enough,  with  the 
first  beams  of  the  morning  the  white-robed  angels 
of  God  come  and  minister  unto  him.  The  past  and 
present  are  full  of  help;  what  trial  is  there  that  has 
not  been  better  borne  than  we  can  bear,  by  the  heroic 
sons  of  God?  Yet  each  man  must  solve  anew  for 
himself  the  great  problem  of  destiny.  God  has  to 
be  sought  and  found  again  and  again.  Each  man 
must  do  it  for  himself.  If  I  had  been  somewhere 
near  you,  I  would  have  asked  you  to  explain  to  me 
better  than  I  know  of  the  difficulties  of  the  infant 
Christian  Church.  But  there  are  many  Christians 
here  in  India;  they  do  not  help  us,  but  always 
preach  to  us  of  the  "blood,  blood,  and  blood!  "  We 
get  tired  of  it. 

Alas,  there  is  no  Buddhism  in  India.  It  was  long 
ago  swept  out  of  the  land  by  the  Brahmins.     In  the 


jEt.  59]  BUDDHISM  419 

southern  extremity  of  the  peninsula  there  may  be  a 
few,  but  we  know  nothing  of  them.  All  that  you 
say  of  Buddha  is  very  true.  He  is  not  so  shadowy 
to  us  as  he  seems  to  you.  The  instincts  and  develop- 
ments of  the  nation  are  still  what  he  found  them. 
And  though  to-day  India  does  not  profess  his  creed, 
the  whole  spiritual  atmosphere  is  suffused  with  the 
glow  of  his  life  and  teachings.  The  religion  of  the 
Brahmins  has  absorbed  and  assimilated  the  spirit  of 
the  great  Sakya  Muni.  In  the  Brahmo  Somaj  we 
have  made  him  a  great  ideal;  we  go  on  pilgrimage 
to  his  soul.  But  the  magnificent  sanctuary  built  by 
the  descendants  of  Asoka  on  the  spot  where  he 
obtained  his  final  illumination  at  Uru-villa,  near 
Gya,  is  in  desolate  solitude;  not  a  single  devotee 
goes  there. 

You  will  find  this  letter  is  not  addressed  from 
Calcutta.  Kurseong,  whence  this  is  written,  is  on 
the  Himalayas.  Here  I  have  come  to  get  a  little 
cottage,  whence  I  have  a  magnificent  view  of  the 
snow-covered  peaks,  not  one  of  which  is  less  than 
twenty-seven  thousand  feet  high.  Thougli  it  is 
November,  the  sunshine  is  bright  and  warm,  and 
the  breeze  most  balmy  and  healthful.  My  wife  is 
here  with  me,  my  simple,  hard-working  wife,  whose 
sole  object  in  life  is  to  see  me  comfortable.  We 
send  our  joint  regards  to  you,  Mrs.  Brace,  and  the 
young  ladies.  To  "the  bummers  and  snoozers  "  my 
hearty  good  will.  I  yet  hope  one  of  them  will  come 
to  be  the  President  of  the  United  States  some  day, 
and  glorify  the  institution  over  which  your  genial 
presence  presides. 


420  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1885 

From  Dr.  Storrs. 

Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  Dec.  15,  1885. 

My  dear  Mr.  Brace  :  Your  kind  letter  of  yesterday- 
makes  me  blush  furiously,  by  its  delightful  over- 
estimate of  the  Missionary  Discourse,  but  I  am  none 
the  less  indebted  to  you  for  writing  it.  The  Dis- 
course was  written  under  special  difficulties,  partly 
at  Shelter  Island,  partly  here,  and  was  finished  in 
fierce  haste,  so  that  I  am  the  more  glad  that  the  style 
and  tone  of  it  commend  themselves  to  one  so  expert 
and  accomplished  in  such  matters  as  you  are.  The 
immeasurable  fact  of  a  Divine  Redeemer  in  the  world, 
giving  celestial  hope  to  the  race,  and  graduallj^  trans- 
forming it  by  His  love  into  His  likeness,  more  and 
more  clearly  appears  to  me  the  life  of  the  Gospel,  the 
supreme  promise  for  the  world,  and  the  inspiration 
to  our  noblest  and  holiest  personal  effort.  I  was 
glad  of  the  opportunity  to  set  this  forth,  as  far  as 
I  could,  in  the  midst  of  the  ethical  schemes  and 
fugitive  speculations  and  the  clashing  collisions  of 
opinion  with  which  Boston  is  filled. 

I  have  never  investigated  the  great  subject  of 
which  you  speak  with  any  breadth  of  survey,  or  care 
in  analysis.  I  hope  you  will  do  it,  and  give  us  a 
book  upon  it  as  noble  and  fascinating  as  the  "  Gesta 
Christi." 

The  subject  which  was  beginning  to  absorb  Mr. 
Brace's  studious  hours,  to  which  Dr.  Storrs  alludes 
in  the  letter  above,  was  the  presence  of  God's  spirit 
in   pre-Christian   religions,   the   continuity  of   His 


iEx.  59]  "EGYPTIAN  MONOTHEISM"  421 

inspiration  thi'oughout  the  ages  as  shown,  he  con- 
sidered, in  the  seeking  of  earnest  minds  of  all  time 
after  the  Being  whom,  as  St.  Paul  said,  "Ye  wor- 
ship in  ignorance."  To  prove  that  "God  hath  not 
left  Himself  without  a  witness,"  that  the  dark  and 
ignorant  beliefs  of  early  religions  had  in  them  some 
spark  from  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  finally,  if  he 
could  procure  the  material,  to  give  this  to  the 
world  in  a  book,  was  Mr.  Brace's  ambition. 

"...  I  have  hatched  my  eggs,"  he  says  to  Dr. 
Howard  in  February,  1886,  "and  though  very  prom- 
ising, they  didn't  come  out  quite  as  lively  as  I 
hoped.  The  subject  is  'Continuity  of  Religion: 
Egyptian  Monotheism.'  They  say  every  one  gets 
crazy  who  writes  on  Egyptian  religion.  I  don't 
wonder.  It  is  wonderful.  It  seems  a  revelation 
or  inspiration  —  like  the  Hebrew  —  pure,  reverent, 
complete,  and  full  both  of  spirituality  and  morality ; 
yet  it  ran  completely  out  —  perhaps  influencing 
Moses  and  Job  somewhat,  and  Plato  and  St.  John ; 
but  outside  of  Egypt  a  failure  mainly.  There  it 
lived  longer  than  Christianity  has  yet  done,  and 
must  have  been  an  incredible  blessing.  Yet  it  never 
gave  the  Jews  its  strongest  belief  —  in  immortality. 
My  great  authority  has  been  'The  Book  of  the  Dead. '  " 

"My  'Egypt'  is  coming  out  in  'Princeton 
Review,'"  he  writes  again  in  March.  "I  am  now 
on  Akkadian  religion  and  Indian  (Vedas),  but  the 
examination  of  about  five  thousand  children  keeps 
me  busy." 


422  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1885 

One  or  two  paragraphs  from  this  paper  on  Egyp- 
tian Monotheism,  which  appeared  in  May  of  this 
year,  and  later  as  a  chapter  in  his  book,  "  The 
Unknown  God,"  present  Mr.  Brace's  belief  that  the 
Divine  Being  "  is  limited  to  no  time  or  age  or 
race,"  and  give  his  reasons  for  this  belief. 

"The  only  conception,"  he  writes,  "of  the  moral 
action  of  the  Divine  Being  on  the  human  soul,  which 
is  a  'priori  defensible  and  philosophical,  is  of  a  con- 
tinued and  impartial  influence,  limited  to  no  time 
or  age  or  race.  It  should  be  like  the  great  physical 
forces  —  like  gravity,  magnetism,  or  electricity  — 
forever  acting  in  all  particles  of  matter,  but  not 
always  manifesting  themselves,  sometimes  resisted, 
often  unseen,  but  eternally  working  towards  definite 
ends.  ...  It  is  a  side-evidence  of  the  spiritual 
inspiration  of  ancient  or  barbarous  races  that  so 
many  tribes  of  men  in  all  ages  have  a  tradition  or 
legend  of  a  moral  benefactor  of  their  race,  who  came 
from  above,  bore  human  ills,  sought  to  scatter  happi- 
ness and  enlightenment  among  men,  and  perhaps 
perished  at  last  in  the  struggle  with  evil  on  earth, 
to  appear  again  among  the  stars,  or  to  await  his 
faithful  followers  in  the  region  of  the  blessed.  Even 
'sun-myths,'  subsequently  attached  to  such  tradi- 
tions, would  not  disprove  the  substantial  historical 
truth  of  the  original  story.  Nor  would  the  tendency 
of  the  human  mind  to  frame  its  ideals  in  legends, 
demonstrate  that  no  such  ideal  benefactors  had  arisen. 
The  strength  and  purity  of  the  feelings  and  practices 


Mt.  59]         "  THE  BOOK  OF   THE  DEAD "  423 

which  gather  around  such  memories  are  perhaps  the 
best  test  of  their  reality.  Under  a  continuity  of 
spiritual  influences  through  all  ages,  such  lives  are 
natural  and  to  be  expected.  And  even  if  some  of 
these  be  imagined,  the  ideal  shows  the  moral  forces 
working  on  the  hearts  of  men  and  the  truths  which 
had  here  and  there  dawned  on  them." 

Miss  Cobbe,  in  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the 
'Review'  containing  his  paper,  says:  — 

"I  thank  you  warmly  for  having  sent  me  your  fine 
paper  on  the  Continuity  of  Religion  as  exhibited  by 
ancient  Egyptian  Monotheism.  I  had  not  seen  it 
before,  and  am  reading  it  with  very  great  interest. 
How  do  you  possibly  manage  to  do  all  3-our  great 
active  work,  and  at  the  same  time  to  'hive  learning 
with  each  studious  year,'  as  if  you  were  nothing 
more  than  a  book-bee,  or  (like  most  of  us)  only  a 
book-butterfly?" 

The  attractiveness  to  Mr.  Brace  of  this  new  field 
of  religious  aspiration  which  he  was  traversing  dur- 
ing this  year,  was  very  great.  For  weeks,  during 
the  restful  hours  at  home  or  in  his  long  walks  over 
the  breezy  hills,  indeed,  through  all  his  waking 
hours,  thoughts  from  "The  Book  of  the  Dead" 
were  absorbing  him. 

Then  would  come  a  time  when  his  breathings  of 
prayer  and  aspiration  seemed  to  find   their  fittest 


424  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1885 

expression  in  the  ancient  Akkadian  hymns,  and, 
as  the  studies  continued,  Buddha  and  his  teachings 
filled  his  mind,  and  so  on,  the  Stoics  in  turn  inspir- 
ing his  thought,  while  those  about  him  could  tell 
which  form  of  religion  was  absorbing  him  by  the 
reflected  tone  of  his  prayers  and  conversation.  A 
far  view  of  the  river  scene  in  its  spring  green  or 
autumn  gold,  as  he  stood  on  one  of  his  favorite 
points  silently  rejoicing  in  its  beauty,  would  call 
forth  a  murmured  "  He  judgeth  the  world  .  .  .  the 
crescent  of  the  sun  is  under  Him,  the  winds,  the 
waters,  the  plants,  and  all  growing  things.  .  .  . 
All  men  are  in  ecstasy,  hearts  in  sweetness,  bosoms 
in  joy,  every  one  is  in  adoration.  Every  one  glori- 
fies His  goodness,  mild  is  His  love  for  us;  His  ten- 
derness environs  our  hearts,  great  is  His  love  in  all 
bosoms."  ^     Or  this,  from  an  Akkadian  prayer,  — 

"  God  my  Creator,  stand  by  my  side ! 
Keep  thou  the  door  of  my  lips,  guard  thou  my  hands, 
O  Lord  of  Light !  " 

Or  again  he  would  repeat  the  following  expression  of 

the  faith  of  the  Stoics,  — 

"  Lead  thou  me  on,  O  Zeus  I 

And  thou,  O  Destiny ! 
Whithersoever  thou  ordainest 

Unflinching  will  I  follow ; 
But  if  from  wicked  heart 

I  will  it  not, 
Still  must  I  follow !  " 

1  From  an  ancient  Egyptian  inscription. 


Mt.  59]     SACRED  WRITINGS  OF  BUDDHISM         425 

and  again,  "Not  in  the  void  of  heaven,  not  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea,  not  by  entering  the  rocky  clefts 
of  the  mountains  —  in  none  of  these  places  can  a 
man  by  any  means  escape  the  consequences  of  his 
evil  deed."  ^ 

1  From  the  writings  of  Buddhism. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

English  Sojourn  —  Summary  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  — 
Letters  —  Thirty-lifth  Annual  Report  —  Death  of  Friends  of 
the  Society  —  Letters  on  his  Coming  Book  —  Death  of  Dr.  Gray 
—  Letter  on  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  —  Letters  —  Effort  to 
Prevent  the  Admission  of  Boys  to  Men's  Lodging  Houses  — 
Marienbad  —  Switzerland 

But  two  letters,  beyond  those  on  Mr.  Brace's 
absorbing  theme  of  study,  are  before  us  for  this 
winter  and  spring.  To  Dr.  Howard  he  writes,  in 
February,  1886 :  — 

"A  week  ago  I  received  news  of  work  like  ours 
started  in  Australia,  England,  San  Francisco,  and 
in  Washington,  all  seeking  to  follow  our  tracks. 
I  had  a  glorious  time  in  Washington,  starting 
theirs,  — gave  a  public  address  in  company  with 
two  senators,  Eaton  and  a  United  States  judge; 
then  spoke  to  five  hundred  newsboys ;  then  to  a  com- 
mittee, —  and  was  much  feasted  and  well  received." 

And  to  Mrs.  Lyell:  — 

"I  suppose  you  have  had  your  usual  pleasant 
winter  in  Italy.  We  have  been  quietly  on  the 
Hudson;  my  work  among  the  poor  demanding  in- 
creasing attention.     We  have  the  satisfaction  now 

426 


JEt.  59]  A  SUMMER  ABROAD  427 

of  seeing  the  direct  effects  on  the  criminal  records 
of  the  city.  In  public  matters  everything  is  very 
dull  because  so  prosperous.  We  are  gaining  step  by 
step  in  Civil  Service  Reform,  and  are  much  pleased 
with  the  new  President.  Our  only  danger  is  from 
the  silver  question.  Our  peojDle  never  learn  any- 
thing in  finance  except  by  learning  their  blunders. 

"Privately  we  are  made  happy  by  the  arrival  of  a 
granddaughter.  Mvs.  Brace  has  gone  West  to  be 
with  the  young  mother  and  our  son.  You  will  be 
interested  to  know  that  Mrs.  Brace  and  I,  with  our 
two  daughters,  expect  to  spend  June  in  London.  I 
hope  we  shall  be  able  to  introduce  them  to  such  a 
valued  friend  as  you.  ...  I  keep  your  sister's 
picture  always  before  me  in  my  study;  a  sweeter 
and  nobler  nature  I  never  knew." 

The  accumulation  of  work  for  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  together  with  that  on  his  book,  were  too 
severe  a  strain  upon  Mr.  Brace,  and  in  the  spring  he 
found  himself  needing  complete  rest.  He  decided 
to  go  abroad,  and  in  May  the  family  sailed  for  Eng- 
land. The  following  extract  from  a  paper  which  he 
must  have  intended  to  publish,  shows  how  close  was 
his  observation  of  the  natural  beauties  in  which  he 
took  so  keen  a  delight  in  England.  The  paper  is 
entitled  "Certain  Social  and  Moral  Glimpses  of 
England":  — 

"  It  has  sometimes  seemed  to  me,  as  an  old  trav- 
eller, that  the  two  richest  pleasures  in  nature  were 


428  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1886 

the  glimpses  of  an  American  autumn  and  an  English 
spring.  We  reached  the  British  shores  this  year, 
late  in  May,  but  owing  to  cold  Arctic  winds,  the 
season  was  backward,  and  we  saw  the  bloom  of  that 
most  delicious  change  —  the  ripening  of  an  English 
spring.  The  first  thing,  of  course,  which  strikes  an 
American  observer,  and  which  is  always  fresh  to 
him,  no  matter  how  often  he  has  visited  England, 
is  the  atmosphere.  He  sees  no  hard,  clear  outlines 
or  distinct  horizons ;  all  is  soft  and  hazy,  one  object 
melts  into  another,  the  green  hedge  into  the  lighter 
green  of  the  field,  this  into  copses  and  shrubbery, 
and  this  again  into  masses  of  dark  foliage  far  away, 
from  which  arises,  as  belonging  to  it,  a  cold,  gray 
soft-shaded  spire.  The  landscape  is  gentle,  sub- 
dued, suffused,  and  changing  incessantly  with  flick- 
ering light  and  shadow  of  passing  fleecy  clouds.  All 
is  in  harmony;  the  red  roof  of  a  farm-house,  the 
brown  thatch  and  dark  green  ivy  of  an  old  cottage, 
the  gray  and  aged  church  with  spire  mounting  above 
the  old  elms,  the  quiet  'hall '  seen  through  green 
lawns  and  ancient  oaks,  and  the  far-away  glimpses 
of  soft,  dark  copses  and  rich  woodlands.  Nature 
seems  in  its  sweetest  and  calmest  mood.  The  caw- 
ing of  the  rooks  in  the  high  trees  and  the  upward 
cheering  song  of  the  lark  only  add  to  the  repose. 
The  cows  lying  down  in  the  rich  grass  seem  happier 
and  more  comfortable  than  any  other  cattle.  You 
note  with  delight  the  new  flowers,  so  long  sung  in 
English  poetry,  the  primrose  and  small  daisy  and 
violet ;  you  wonder  at  the  bright  pink  of  the  '  May' 
(the  red  hawthorn),  the  yellow,  drooping  clusters  of 
the  laburnum,  and  the  gay  pink  of  the  horsechest- 


^T.  60]  ST.   BEATENBERG  429 

nut,  and  envy  the  English  that  they  can  produce  such 
effects  so  easily  in  garden  shrubbery." 

June  was  passed  in  England,  partly  in  the  fasci- 
nation of  London  life,  partly  in  country  visits,  and 
in  July  Mr.  Brace  with  his  family  went  to  the 
Continent.  "It's  no  joke,"  he  writes  to  his  son 
from  St.  Beatenberg,  above  the  Lake  of  Thun,  "con- 
ducting a  party  of  four  around  with  all  their  lug- 
gage, —  though  ours  are  good  travellers,  —  and  still 
less  to  find  every  petty  charge  quadrupled.  So 
we  are  going  to  keep  quiet  here  awhile.  We  are 
just  over  an  abyss,  with  green  waters,  out  of 
which  white  mists  arise  continually  until  we  are 
all  in  cloud;  beyond  arise  the  great  snow-moun- 
tains of  the  Bernese  Oberland,  not  far,  and  the 
Jungfrau  (about  thirteen  thousand  feet)  in  the 
midst.  We  have  one  or  two  walks  around  the 
mountain  with  this  great  scene  always  in  view." 

They  returned  to  America  in  October,  and  Mr. 
Brace  wrote  as  follows  to  Mr.  Redmajnie :  — 

To  E.  B.  Redmayne. 

Ches-knoll,  Dobbs  FERRy,  Oct.  24, 1886. 
My  dear  Mr.  Redmayne :  I  trust  the  two  voyages 
which  began  on  the  second  of  October  ^  were  not  an 

1  Mr.  Brace's  departure  for  America  and  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Kedmayne's  daughter. 


430  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1886 

exact  counterpart.  We  had  a  domestic  difficulty  at 
once  in  the  Irish  Channel,  despite  that  most  lovely- 
day,  and  the  worst  weather  of  the  passage  was  on 
that  Saturday  night,  the  rest  being  comparatively 
pleasant  and  peaceful,  and  ending  in  the  glorious 
autumn  of  the  American  shores,  of  which  I  am  always 
ready  to  repeat  that  saying,  "  Doubtless  the  Almighty 
could  have  made  better  weather,  but  doubtless  He 
never  did!  "  To-day,  for  instance,  we  look  through 
a  vista  of  gold  and  yellow  and  crimson,  over  the  blue 
river  far  up  to  other  mountains,  all  aflame,  though 
the  colors  are  softened  by  distance,  and  the  sun  as  of 
Italy,  over  all.  If  one  cared  for  last  looks  at  death, 
I  should  pray  that  mine  might  be  of  the  glorious 
Hudson  in  autumn,  and  I  could  scarcely  hope  that 
the  Unseen  could  offer  anything  more  lovely.  All 
which  shows  that  we  are  all  very  well  and  happy, 
and  grateful  to  God  for  many  mercies. 

Among  these,  was  another  friendship  made,  like 
ours,  on  seaboard,  with  Rev.  Professor  Creighton 
of  Cambridge  and  Worcester  Cathedral.  He  pro- 
nounced himself  "abject"  under  sea-sickness,  but  he 
was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  men  I  ever  met.  They 
came  up  here  for  a  day,  and  looked  into  my  work 
in  town.  He  is  a  delegate  to  the  Harvard  250th 
anniversary. 

"All  has  gone  on  well,"  he  writes  to  a  friend  on 
his  return,  "in  our  work,  though  we  did  not  get 
money  enough  for  the  Health  Home,  and  closed 
with  sixteen  hundred  dollars  debt.  .  .  .  There  is 
a  deep  religious  revival  going  on  among  the  univer- 
sities in  England,  and  great  work  is  being  done  for 
the  poor  and  ignorant." 


Mr.  60]     WORK  OF  CHILDREN'S  AID  SOCIETY    431 

In  the  report  for  this  year  he  speaks  with  satisfac- 
tion of  the  work  accomplished  and  the  sacrifices 
made,  not  only  in  the  great  society  in  which  he  is 
laboring,  but  also  in  the  enterprises  in  New  York 
such  as  boys'  clubs  and  girls'  associations,  and  "the 
wonderful  movements  in  the  last  few  years  for 
giving  fresh  air  and  country  life  for  a  few  days 
to  the  poorest  children,  in  the  '  Tribune  '  '  Fresh  Air 
Fund, '  and  the  summer  homes  of  churches  and  indi- 
viduals, as  well  as  our  own  Summer  Home  and 
Health  Home,"  and  says:  "All  these  things  are  the 
fruits  of  pure  sympathy  and  of  genuine  religion. 
We  may  hope  and  believe  that  they  are  not  tempo- 
rary products,  but  that  similar  fruits,  and  even 
nobler,  are  to  be  shown  by  the  coming  generation. 
In  England,  a  deep  wave  of  religion  and  humanity 
through  the  universities  and  the  higher  classes  is 
carrying  the  young  men  to  most  self-denying  labors 
among  the  masses  of  poor  and  vicious.  May  we  not 
hope  for  like  things  here,  when  each  college  and 
large  school  shall  have  its  missions  or  charities  to 
support,  or  send  its  devoted  workers  to  the  slums  of 
the  cities  or  to  the  frontier?  " 

In  the  report  of  this  year  he  reviews  in  detail 
the  causes  of  the  success  of  the  ideas  and  principles 
which  this    society  has    always   supported  ^ :  — 

1  Page  4  of  34th  Annual  Report. 


432  CHARLES   LORING   BRACE  [1886 

"  The  principles  on  which  this  charity  was  founded, 
thirty-three  years  ago,  have  been  more  and  more 
confirmed  by  the  experience  of  the  leading  nations. 
The  ideas  which  we  then  preached  to  dull  ears  are 
now  received  cordially  in  this  country,  in  England, 
and  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  They  liave  become 
a  part  of  the  settled  principles  of  the  century. 
These  were:  the  absolute  necessity  of  treating  each 
youthful  criminal  or  outcast  as  an  individual,  and 
not  as  one  of  a  crowd;  the  immense  superiority  of 
the  home  or  family  over  any  institution  in  reform- 
atory and  educational  influence;  the  prevention  of 
crime  and  pauperism  by  early  efforts  with  children, 
and  the  vital  importance  of  breaking  up  inherited 
pauperism  by  putting  almshouse  children  in  separate 
homes,  and,  most  of  all,  the  immense  advantage 
of  'placing  out '  neglected  and  orphan  children  in 
farmers'  families. 

"These  principles  have  now  begun  to  be  vigor- 
ously carried  out  in  England,  as  they  have  been  in 
many  of  the  States  in  our  Union.  We  have  fol- 
lowed these  guiding  ideas  steadily  for  more  than 
thirty  years,  and  have  seen  the  wonderful  fruit 
borne  by  them  in  human  lives  raised  and  blessed, 
in  thousands  of  youth  here  and  at  the  West  made 
honest  and  useful  citizens  and  workers,  and  in  the 
marked  and  steady  diminution  of  juvenile  crime 
in  New  York." 

To  a  friend  in  England,  to  whom  he  had  sent  a 
volume  of  Bushnell's  sermons,  he  writes  the  follow- 
ing letter : — 


iEx.  60]  BUSHNELL'S  INFLUENCE  433 

To  Miss  Flower. 

Ches-knoll,  Jan.  16,  1887. 

My  dear  R.  :  Thanks  for  your  kind  note  about  the 
"Sermons."  The  author  was  a  man  of  great  origi- 
nality and  genius.  I  remember,  as  a  boy,  hearing 
the  remarkable  one  on  "Unconscious  Influence."  I 
think  it  influenced  my  whole  life;  especially  as  Dr. 
Bushnell  was  an  eloquent  speaker.  That  on  the 
"  Spirit  of  God  "  is  very  impressive  too.  His  ser- 
mons recall  to  me  my  golden  youth,  when  all  these 
aspirations  and  thoughts  filled  the  hearts  of  our 
young  men  in  Yale  College,  and  the  universe  seemed 
so  wonderful.  Strange  to  say,  to  me,  life  has  been 
happier  than  I  expected,  and  the  world  of  truth  is 
more  glorious  even  than  I  thought.  Yet  youth  gives 
a  sense  of  Eternity  and  of  God  which  never  returns 
fully.  I  rejoice  often  in  thinking  of  our  beautiful 
visit  at  Stratford,  and  of  what  I  believe  is  the  con- 
secration of  you  young  people,  under  your  mother's 
influence,  to  the  Master's  service.  I  hope  it  is  an 
entire  and  absolute  devotion  to  the  best  thing  in  the 
world  —  the  building  up  of  His  Kingdom.  I  can 
wish  you  no  greater  joy  for  the  new  year.   .   .   . 

To-day  the  Hudson  is  a  field  of  ice  with  blue 
streaks  of  water,  a  glorious  winter  vista  of  snow  and 
brown  banks  and  distant  mountains. 

In  April,  Mr.  Brace  made  his  annual  visit  to  the 
South. 

"I  am,"   he  writes  to   his   son   from   Baltimore, 
"  in   a   big,    rambling    house,    visiting    the    Bona- 
2p 


434  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1887 

partes,  most  charming  people,  and  the  wife  an  old 
friend.  Mr.  Bonaparte  was  chairman  of  our  meet- 
ing last  night.  I  '  enjoyed  liberty '  in  both  of  my 
speeches,  and  am  becoming  an  orator  in  my  old  age. 
I  send  a  programme.  I  had  a  glorious  trip  in  Vir- 
ginia to  Staunton,  etc.,  and  Hampton.  I  enjoy 
that  school  so  much,  and  the  scene;  have  been 
gone  about  nineteen  days.  General  Armstrong  is 
splendid." 

Mr.  Brace  heard  Mr.  Curtis  speak  before  the  Com- 
monwealth Club,  on  Civil  Service  Reform,  in  May  of 
this  year,  and  at  once  wrote  him  his  appreciation  of 
his  address.     In  reply  Mr.  Curtis  says :  — 

"  Your  generous  note  is  very  pleasant,  and  I  am 
delighted  and  proud  to  have  occasioned  it.  But 
how  seldom  a  man  has  such  an  audience:  young 
men  and  older  men  who  all  have  the  faith  in  honesty 
and  the  resolution  to  secure  it  in  public  affairs  of 
which  I  spoke.  That  company  represented  a  great 
host  which  is  the  resistless  vanguard  of  our  America, 
and  no  matter  who  falls  by  the  way,  he  hands  his 
torch,  unextinguished,  to  his  neighbor.  When  I 
saw  the  company  and  the  expectation,  I  was  troubled 
by  what  1  had  undertaken,  but  after  a  few  moments 
it  was  like  swimming  in  a  deep  sea. 

"  I  greatly  prize  your  sympathy  and  approval  as  the 
kindly  word  of  one  of  the  old  guard  to  a  fellow- 
soldier  ;  we  will  not  say  fellow-veteran  !  —  and 
with  the  most  grateful  and  hearty  regard,  I  am," 
etc. 


^T.  60]  MRS.   BRACE  485 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  there  are  not 
more  of  Mr.  Brace's  letters  to  his  wife.  They 
were  rarely  separated,  except  during  his  hurried 
trips  in  early  spring  to  the  South,  and  during  the 
month  of  September,  when  Mr.  Brace  returned  to 
work,  and  Mrs.  Brace  stayed  with  some  of  her 
children  in  the  mountains.  During  these  periods 
he  wrote  every  day  short  letters,  telling  of  each 
day's  occupations.  Separation  was  never  endured 
where  it  could  be  avoided,  and  Mr.  Brace  was  usually 
accompanied  by  his  wife  even  when  he  was  obliged 
to  remain  in  New  York  to  attend  the  evening  meet- 
ings or  night  schools  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society. 
It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  insert  a  few  words  expres- 
sive of  his  estimate  of  the  characters  of  Mrs.  Brace 
and  her  sisters,  written  with  an  openness  unusual  in 
him.  "  You  must  remember,"  he  writes  to  one  of  his 
sons,  "that  you  get  from  the  Neill  women  a  dis- 
interestedness beyond  compare,  sincerity,  and  a  won- 
derful devotion  to  ideal  things,  such  as  friendship, 
religion,  music,  art,  poetry,  and  the  like,  besides 
sweetness,  patience,  and  love.  The  best  has  all  come 
from  your  grandmother  (Neill).  The  Neill  women 
are  unselfish  in  the  highest  degree  usually.  You 
may  bless  God  evermore  for  your  mother ;  few  are  like 
unto  her.  ...  I  think  I  made  a  mistake  in  not 
educating  my  boys  in  Children's  Aid  Society  mat- 
ters.    It  arose  from   my  excessive  respect   for  the 


436  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1887 

soul's  independence,  and  from  circumstances  (dis- 
tance from  town,  etc.)."  The  quality  of  which  he 
speaks,  of  "  excessive  respect  for  the  soul's  indepen- 
dence," was  a  characteristic  pervading  all  his  rela- 
tions with  others.  This  it  was,  perhaps,  which 
held  him  back  from  frank  opinion  of  views,  espe- 
cially on  matters  of  theology,  and  made  it  rare  for 
even  his  closest  friends  to  hear  from  him  strong 
expressions  of  opinion.  He  almost  never  argued, 
and  seemed  to  seek  rather  the  points  of  agreement 
and  sympathy  with  his  friends.  A  greater  openness 
in  his  letters  than  was  exhibited  in  familiar  conver- 
sation may  perhaps  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
thus  he  felt  he  met  his  friends  on  a  ground  where 
both  were  freer,  and  the  chance  of  influence  was 
less.  It  was  a  characteristic  of  his  to  state  once 
for  all  his  opinions,  when  a  subject  for  argument 
came  up,  and  considering  that  thus  his  part  in  the 
debate  was  finished,  he  listened  courteously  to  the 
other  side,  and  then  invariably  let  the  matter  drop. 

In  the  autumn  of  1887,  in  his  thirty-fifth  annual 
report,  Mr.  Brace  recalls  an  address  with  which, 
thirty  years  before,  he  had  sought  to  encourage  his 
co-laborers  in  their  efforts  in  New  York.  Discour- 
agement often  attended  them  then;  it  took  much 
faith  to  look  forward  and  see  the  fruits  of  their 
apparently  fruitless  labors,  to  believe  that  the  next 


^T.  61]    DECREASE  OF  CRIME  IN  NEW  YORK    437 

generation  would  be  better  for  their  care  of  the 
children,  that  while  they  might  never  know  one 
child  whom  they  had  saved  from  misery  and  crime, 
there  would  be  scattered  over  the  land  virtuous 
women  and  strong  men  to  bless  them  for  words  of 
kindness  and  patient  acts  of  helpfulness.  The 
strange  potency  of  goodness  who  can  measure!  It 
may  seem  that  the  kind  w^ord  or  compassionate  look 
is  thrown  away,  but  because  of  the  faithful  labors  of 
the  men  and  women  whom  he  is  addressing,  "there 
will  be  fewer  children's  faces  behind  prison  bars, 
fewer  mothers'  hearts  crushed,  and  less  of  young 
sorrow  and  crime  and  pollution."  This  faith  in 
their  experiment,  expressed  a  generation  and  a  half 
before,  in  the  enthusiasm  of  youth,  was  justified  year 
after  year,  he  says,  as  letters  from  every  part  of  the 
country  revealed.  Besides  this,  after  thirty  years, 
a  flood  of  light  breaks  over  the  gloomy  records  of 
the  prison,  and  while  the  conditions  which  would 
naturally  make  for  crime  have  steadily  increased, 
in  overcrowding,  in  the  continued  enormous  emigra- 
tion, and  in  poor  municipal  government,  there  has 
been  during  the  period  a  steady  decrease  in  crime, 
and  especially  in  children's  crime,  or  in  crime 
which  grows  out  of  such  conditions  as  the  labors 
of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  would  naturally 
influence. 

Once  more  we  find  the  appreciative  and  affec- 


438  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1887 

tionate    words   with    which    Mr.    Potter  welcomed 
each  report  as  it  appeared. 

From  Howard  Potter. 

38  East  Thirty-seventh  Street, 
Sunday  evening,  Dec.  18,  1887. 

I  have  just  finished  reading  your  thirty-fifth  annual 
report,  and  I  congratulate  you,  with  all  my  heart, 
on  such  a  record  of  your  life-long  service  in  the  great 
work  which  your  philanthropy  and  piety  inaugurated 
so  many  years  ago,  and  which  you  have  since  carried 
forward  with  such  single-minded  devotion  and  such 
high  intelligence,  and  with  (what  has  been  not  less 
important  to  the  great  results  which  have  so  crowned 
your  labors)  a  long-suffering  and  benignant  charity 
which,  "enduring  all  things  and  hoping  all  things," 
has  brought  your  work  a  degree  of  sympathy  and 
confidence  such  as  no  other  I  know  of  enjoys,  or,  as 
I  think,  deserves.  Now,  there  is  a  sentence  as  long 
as  if  Evarts  himself  had  indited  it,  but  not  long 
enough,  or  strong  enough,  to  express  half  I  feel,  of 
admiration  for  you  as  master-builder,  or  for  the 
great,  beneficent,  and  enduring  fabric  of  charity 
which  I  have  seen  grow  under  your  direction.  May 
the  Lord  you  have  served  bless  you  and  keep  you, 
and  make  His  face  to  shine  upon  you,  and  give  you 
peace,  now  and  evermore,  prays  your  sincere  and 
affectionate  friend. 

At  this  time  sorrow  and  anxiety  were  filling  the 
hearts  of  all  the  workers  in  the  society,  caused  by 


JEt.  61]  MRS.  J.  J.  ASTOR  439 

the  death  of  Miss  Wolfe  and  the  ilhiess  of  Mrs. 
J.  J.  Astor.  For  more  than  twenty  years  Miss 
Wolfe  had  had  the  deepest  interest  in  the  society, 
and  had  personally  known  many  of  the  children  in 
the  Cottage  Place  School,  besides  bestowing  upon 
the  society  the  East  Side  Lodging-house.  Of  ]\Irs. 
Astor,  and  what  her  loving,  tender  sympathy  was, 
not  only  for  the  children,  but  also  for  the  brave 
workers  among  them,  Mr.  Brace's  own  words  fittingly 
tell  us  at  the  time  of  her  death  in  the  following 
year: — 

"  This  society,"  he  says,  "has  met  with  an  irrepara- 
ble loss  during  the  past  year,  in  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Astor.  She  had  not  only  during  the  past  twenty-five 
years  supported  one  of  our  most  useful  branches, 
—  the  Avenue  B  Industrial  School, —  and  for  the  past 
twenty  years  had  sent  a  party  of  one  hundred  home- 
less children  to  the  West  every  winter,  but  she  had 
literally  given  herself  to  the  poor.  Her  sympathy 
and  friendship  included  the  teachers  and  workers 
whom  she  met  in  the  labors  of  this  charity,  and  she 
knew  the  circumstances  and  sympathized  with  the 
trials  of  very  many  of  the  poor  families  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  her  school  in  Avenue  B.  She  has  com- 
forted the  sorrowing  and  stood  by  the  bedside  of  the 
dying  of  not  a  few  among  the  humble  and  suffering. 
It  may  truly  be  said  that  in  all  the  public  sorrow 
for  her  death  there  were  no  tears  more  sincere  and 
heartfelt  than  those  of  the  poor  and  friendless  in  the 
wretched  tenements  of  the  Eastern  quarter  of  the 


440  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1887 

city.  Her  judgment  was  equal  to  her  sympathy, 
and  she  never  helped  indiscriminately,  and  always 
sought  to  enable  the  poor  to  help  themselves.  It 
was  this  .which  gave  her  such  a  special  sympathy  in 
our  'Emigration  '  plan. 

"No  one  can  ever  replace  her  peculiar  influence 
in  our  work.  Her  '  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  ' ; 
but  it  will  blossom  forth  anew  in  hundreds  of  lives 
among  the  unfortunate  who  have  been  cheered  or 
redeemed  through  her  instrumentality."  ^ 

The  following  letters  close  this  year,  too  scantily 
marked  by  his  own  writing.  He  was  studying  con- 
stantly, and  seemed  to  have  less  and  less  inclination 
to  speak  of  the  personal  details  of  his  life. 


To  C.  L.  B.,  Jr. 

Litchfield,  Oct.  25,  1887. 
My  dear  L — ;  ...  I  have  just  been  visiting 
my  old  friend  Kingsbury,  and  had  great  talks,  just 
as  I  did  forty-five  years  ago!  We  enjoy  each  other 
just  as  well.  I  got  in  a  clergyman,  a  scholar,  and 
got  criticism  on  my  new  book  —  very  valuable  hints 
too.     This  may  be  the  title :  — 

THE  UNKNOWN  GOD, 

OR 

INSPIRATION  IN  PRE-CHRISTIAN  AGES. 
1  36th  Annual  Report,  pp.  62,  63. 


iET.  61]     "HISTORY  OF  THE   INQUISITION"  441 

THE  UNKNOWN  GOD, 

OR 

ETHNIC  INSPIRATIONS, 

OR 

REVELATION  IN  PRE-CHRISTIAN  AGES. 

What  do  you  think?     It  will  be  years  before  it  is 
done  —  a  very  interesting  study. 

To  H.  C.  Lea. 

Ches-knoll,  Nov.  27,  1887. 
My  dear  Mr.  Lea  :  I  received  with  great  gratifica- 
tion your  kind  gift  of  the  "History  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion," and  shall  study  it  carefully.  Everything  you 
write  is  valuable  to  me,  both  from  its  careful  research 
and  its  truth-loving  spirit.  I  know  no  works  in 
Europe  in  the  field  of  the  Middle  Ages  so  instructive 
as  yours.     They  will  be  permanent  authorities. 

To  Dr.  Howard. 

Ches-knoll,  Dec.  29,  1887. 
My  dear  George :  I  am  sitting  in  my  study  (at 
50°)  posing  for  my  portrait,  and  writing.  I  have 
missed  your  letters  (the  best  I  get)  this  winter.  My 
last  was  your  interesting  account  of  the  Indian  matter. 
I  am  glad  you  are  in  that.  Has  not  the  President 
behaved  well  in  this  and  other  things?  Was  not 
the  message   very  sound   and   bold?  .   .   .      Thirty- 


442  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1887 

one  Christmas  festivals  last  week!  An  exhausting 
orgy.  But  the  Children's  Aid  Society  is  on  a  boom! 
(I.)  Crippled  girls'  cottage  at  Bath;  one  thousand 
dollars  appealed  for  and  paid  in.  (II.)  Annex  to 
Health  Home ;  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  appealed 
for,  and,  next  morning,  a  check  from  Mrs.  Van- 
derbilt.  (HI.)  Appeal  for  industrial  school  near 
Crosby  Street.  Mr.  Astor  will  put  up  a  memorial 
building  for  his  wife,  forty  thousand  dollars  —  and 
lots  four  thousand  dollars.  (IV.)  Appeal  for  Miss 
Strathan's  school.  A  young  man,  unknown,  offers 
forty  thousand  dollars;  and  a  friend  five  thousand 
dollars.  But  buildings,  while  they  solidify  the 
work,  increase  expense  of  care-taking.  We  shall 
miss  Mrs.  Astor  very  much  indeed.  She  has  left  us 
legacies  to  keep  up  her  branches. 

I  have  been  extremely  busy  on  the  ancient  Akka- 
dians, and  would  like  to  read  to  you  my  corrected 
chapters.  In  the  meantime,  I  have  been  reading 
all  the  rationalistic  attacks  on  the  Pentateuch  and 
Abraham,  etc.,  etc.  What  do  you  think  of  this 
definition  of  "inspiration":  "A  supernatural  eleva- 
tion of  the  moral  and  religious  faculties  ?  "  —  the  Old 
Testament  inspiration  being  an  intuition  of  Jahveh, 
the  self-existent  and  the  God  of  righteousness,  but 
not  perfect  accuracy  in  dates  or  historical  events ; 
the  whole,  as  a  narrative  of  the  progress  of  the 
highest  religion,  being  inspired  or  elevated  to  lead 
to  the  true  faith.  That  is,  the  facts  related  often 
belong  to  a  low  condition  of  men,  and  the  science  and 
chronology  are  of  the  age,  but  the  spiritual  truths 
are  of  all  ages,  and  the  drift  of  the  whole  is  towards 
righteousness.     Enough  of  that. 


^T.  61]  DEATH  OF  DR.   GRAY  443 

Mr.  Brace,  as  well  as  the  whole  scientific  world, 
met  with  a  very  great  loss  early  in  the  year  of  1888, 
in  the  death  of  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  of  which  he  writes 
as  follows  to  Mrs.  Gray:  — 


To  Mrs.  Gray. 

New  York,  Feb.  3,  1888. 

My  dear  J — ;  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  we 
all  sympathize  with  you.  To  me,  a  great  light  seems 
gone  from  this  world.  He  was  so  lovable  and  so 
clear-sighted.  I  feel  I  owe  a  great  deal  intellectu- 
ally to  dear  Doctor.  And  you  both  have  given  many 
hajipy  days  to  me  and  mine.  I  sent  you  my  notice 
of  him  in  the  "Times."  Well, — he  rests  in  God 
after  a  very  happy  life.  May  it  be  granted  to  me  to 
know  him  there !  May  the  comfort  of  Christ  be  with 
you,  dear  Jane ! 

To  the  Same. 

Ches-knoll,  March  25,  1888, 

My  dear  J — ;  I  am  reading  with  deep  feeling 
those  beautiful  memorials  of  Dr.  Gray.  And  yet 
how  impossible  to  convey  the  alertness  and  sweet- 
ness and  mental  cheerfulness  of  the  dear  man.  I  feel 
myself  so  much  indebted  to  him  for  innumerable  acts 
of  kindness  and  consideration,  and  above  all,  for  the 
light  he  thi'ew  about  so  many  scientific  questions  for 
me  and  others.  I  imagine  him  living  in  the  highest 
light  of  God,  and  ever  learning  of  His  universe. 


444  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1888 

Later,  in  January,  1890,  when  the  "Scientific 
Papers  of  Asa  Gray  "  appeared,  Mrs.  Gray  sent  the 
volumes  to  Mr.  Brace,  and  he  wrote :  — 

"...  And  you  know  how  high  you  stand  in  the 
esteem  and  love  of  all  of  us.  You  could  not  have 
thought  of  a  New  Year  gift  more  acceptable  than  that 
book.  I  have  read  most  of  the  articles,  but  I  longed 
to  possess  and  re-read  the  volumes.  The  Doctor's 
influence  abides  with  me,  as  with  so  many,  but  how 
I  do  miss  his  companionship!  I  send  an  anonymous 
notice  in  the  'Times.'  " 

Study  on  his  book  and  kindred  subjects  absorbed 
him  throughout  this  winter  and  spring,  as  the 
following  letters  show,  but  this  labor,  added  to  his 
daily  work,  proved  too  much  for  him,  and  the  last 
letter  below  tells  of  his  need  of  rest  and  change. 


To  Miss  Floiver. 

Ches-knoll,  Feb.  12, 
My  dear  Rosalie  :  Thank  you  for  a  very  charming 
note  from  the  Riviera.  I  like  to  think  of  you  among 
the  palmettoes  and  eucalypti  and  greenery  while  even 
our  river  is  a  white  mass,  and  the  brown  trees  sparkle 
in  ice-diamonds,  and  the  hills  lie  in  white  with  blue 
shadows,  and  all  is  winter,  —  calm,  serene,  severe, 
yet  hopeful.  ...  I  am  continually  busy  on  my 
book,  "The  Unknown  God."  Just  now  I  am  on  the 
Hindoo  inspirations.     They  seem  often  very  wild 


^T.  61]  INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE  445 

and  foolish,  and  yet  there  is  faith  in  God,  and  an 
ideal  of  absolute  union  with  Him,  the  Centre  and 
Life  of  all.  I  ask  myself  whether  a  pious  Hindoo 
in  that  frame  of  soul  is  not  nearer  the  Father  or 
Christ  than  we  Anglo-Saxons,  who  will  step  into 
Eternity  with  our  brains  (or  minds)  filled  with 
stocks  and  politics  and  comforts.  It  seems  some- 
times as  if  European  and  American  religion  was 
made  for  this  world,  and  the  Oriental  for  Eternity. 
I  suppose  our  solution  is  to  unite  the  two,  to  live  in 
the  world  and  not  be  of  it,  to  live  in  God  and  build 
up  His  Kingdom  among  living  men.  It  is  very  plain 
that  Christ  has  the  secret. 

We  are  hard  at  work  this  year  among  the  poor,  and 
shall  build  this  winter  three  large  buildings  in  the 
city,  and  three  small  ones  by  the  sea.  Our  young 
people  are  having  a  very  happy  winter;  all  being 
daft  on  Wagner's  operas. 

To  Dr.  Howard. 

Ches-knoll,  March  17,  1888. 
Dear  Creorge  .•  .  .  .  I  did  want  to  talk  with  you 
about  inspiration  of  Scriptures.  I  think  I  have 
drifted  far  away  from  our  teaching  in  New  Haven 
Theological  Seminary.  The  inspiration  of  the  Bible 
seems  to  me  not  in  the  history  or  facts  or  science  or 
morals  of  the  story.  The  power  lies  in  the  divinely 
elevated  spiritual  views  and  feelings  of  some  of  the 
writers.  The  Creation  narrative  has  for  inspiration 
the  sense  of  Jahveh  as  Creator,  — the  garden,  a  pict- 
ure or  myth  of  moral  fall  from  Him;    the  Patriarch 


446  CHARLES   LORING  BRACE  [1888 

history,  of  men  divinely  inspired  with  a  belief  in  one 
personal  God;  the  tribal  history,  the  story  of  a 
half-savage  tribe  whose  leaders  were  inspired  with 
monotheism;  the  Psalms  and  Proj^hets  show  the 
highest  inspiration  of  Jahveism,  and  preparation  for 
Christianity;  the  whole  narrative  a  wonderful  lit- 
erar}^  performance  whose  inspiration  is  the  sense  of 
God  and  His  dealings  with  one  race.  Prophecy  or 
prediction  must  be  a  separate  inspiration.  But  the 
people  were  far  below  the  leaders,  and  a  promiscuous 
reading  of  the  facts  is  not  now  useful. 

This  is  a  brief  outline  of  ra}-  present  state  of  mind. 
What  do  you  say?  To  call  the  Bible  "The  Word 
of  God  "  seems  hardly  true ;  rather,  it  contains  words 
and  truths  of  God,  and  many  words  of  half-savage, 
irreligious  men  —  the  diift  being  from  God,  and 
inspired. 

To  his  Daughter. 

Ches-knoll,  Feb.  25,  1888. 

My  dear  E — ;  A  torrential  day  —  rain,  rain,  and 
blow  —  and  everything  melting.  .  .  .  Went  to  the 
V.'s  meeting  about  the  home  for  prison-women;  a 
fine  speech  from  Schurz  and  good  music;  a  fair 
assembly,  mainly  Presbyterian.  It  is  a  hard  row 
to  hoe.  Your  mother  was  engaged  at  Nineteenth 
Century  Club!  The  best  thing  was  a  proposition  to 
make  a  religious  trust  (as  they  do  for  standard  oil 
or  sugar),  and  supply  villages  with  a  good  article 
at  low  rates.  I  got  home  at  11.30,  but  no  wife !  She 
returned  at  12.30! 


Mr.  61]  HINDOO  FAITH  447 

To  the  Same. 

New  York,  March  13,  1888. 

My  dear  E — ;  You  would  be  amused  to  see 
New  York  now,  —  streets  black  with  men,  no  street- 
cars, few  elevated  cars,  a  few  sleighs,  no  vehicles 
or  trucks,  —  laughing  and  shouting  going  on  all  the 
time,  people  tumbling  and  sliding,  drifts  from  five 
feet  to  ten  feet.  I  left  home  Sunday  morning,  and 
no  trains  or  mails  or  telegrams  since!  Snowed  in 
probably  till  Wednesday  evening.  I  saw  a  gentle- 
man who  spent  yesterday  on  a  Pullman  at  110th 
Street,  and  a  lady  who  was  seven  hours  in  an  elevated 
car  near  23d  Street.  New  York  has  broken  down. 
Luckily  I  have  this  house  and  my  club,  so  I  am 
comfortable. 

To  a  Friend. 

April  29,  1888. 

My  dear  Friend :  With  your  kind  friendship,  you 
will  be  glad  to  hear  that  we  are  going  to  Europe  on 
May  29th.  My  health  has  been  a  little  worn  this 
winter,  and  I  shall  take  a  turn  at  Marienbad,  and 
also  wander  round  England  and  Switzerland.  .  .  . 
I  do  hope,  if  you  are  about  this  summer,  you  will 
visit  our  seaside  homes.  It  is  such  an  encourage- 
ment to  the  workers.     All  goes  well  with  our  work. 

I  am  busy,  slowly,  on  my  book.  The  Hindoo  faith 
and  no-faith  is  a  puzzle.  The  Hindoos  asked  the 
natural  questions,  and  in  some  ways  answered  them 
naturally,  but  others  wildly.  We  should  have  done 
no  better  without  Christ.     The  subjects  they  were 


448  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1888 

most  interested  in  were  those  which  must  come  to 
us  at  death.  What  is  God?  How  to  be  like  Him? 
How  to  be  united  with  Him  ?  How  to  be  free  from 
sin  forever? 

In  May,  before  going  abroad,  Mr.  Brace  was  able 
to  accomplish  a  long-hoped-for  reform,  which,  he 
says  in  the  report  of  November  of  this  year,  "should 
be  felt  for  years  to  come  among  the  destitute  youth 
of  New  York."  It  was  to  prevent  the  admission  of 
boys  into  men's  lodging-houses.  It  had  long  been 
a  source  of  much  distress  to  the  society  that  boys 
could  lodge  in  the  low,  semi-criminal  lodging- 
houses,  come  in  at  any  hour  of  the  night,  gamble 
all  night  and  sleep  in  the  day,  and  associate  with 
tramps  and  criminals.  Mr.  Brace  first  consulted 
the  legal  adviser  of  the  society,  Mr.  Whitehead, 
and  then  went  to  see  some  of  the  leaders  of  the 
houses  in  Albany;  but  it  was  slow  work  accom- 
plishing such  a  reform  as  this.  Mr.  Dorman  B. 
Eaton  was  his  chief  ally,  as  he  had  framed  the 
constitution  of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  to  give 
Mr.  Eaton  an  object-lesson  which  could  not  but 
sink  deep  into  the  heart  and  sympathies  of  a  good 
man,  Mr.  Brace  took  him  to  the  Newsboys'  Lodging 
House  to  talk  with  some  of  the  boys  who  had  been 
in  these  miserable  resorts.  He  was  much  stirred 
by  what  he  heard.  He  and  Judge  Van  Vorst  threw 
themselves  into  the  effort,  secured  a  public  audience 


^T.  62]  MARIENBAD  449 

with  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Health,  with 
superintendents  of  two  lodging-houses  of  the  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society  as  witnesses  to  the  facts,  and 
the  upshot  was  that  the  president  of  the  Health 
Board,  expressing  himself  as  having  "ncAv  light  on 
the  subject,"  was  persuaded  that  certain  matters  not 
strictly  sanitary  came  under  his  jurisdiction,  as  was 
the  case  here.  He  expressed  deep  sympathy  in  the 
object,  and  promised  to  take  action  on  the  matter, 
either  by  a  new  section  to  their  sanitary  code,  or 
by  instructions  to  their  inspectors  that  no  lodging- 
houses  occupied  by  men  should  shelter  boys  under 
fifteen,  unless  accompanied  by  parent  or  guardian. 
Thus  was  accomplished  one  more,  probably  the  last, 
of  the  great  labors  for  the  friendless  by  Mr.  Brace. 

His  younger  daughter  was  married  in  May,  and 
he  started  abroad  in  the  middle  of  the  month  for 
much-needed  rest.  The  voyage  did  not  refresh 
him  as  of  old,  but  the  happy  visits  in  beautiful 
England  restored  him  in  a  measure,  and  early  in 
July  he  and  Mrs.  Brace  started  for  Marienbad, 
stopping  at  the  old  favorite  haunts  on  the  Rhine 
and  at  Nuremberg. 

"This  is  the  town,"  he  writes  his  daughter  from 
Marienbad,  "of  fat  women  and  men  too.  Each  one 
is  patrolling  around,  cup  in  hand,  and  some  sipping 
through  a  glass  tube.  Your  father  appears  with  a 
red  crackled-glass  cup,  and  is  very  distinguished  (?). 
2o 


450  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1888 

We  sip  and  listen  to  a  lovely  band,  and  walk  up  and 
down, — all  this  between  six  and  eight, — then 
home,  half-starved,  to  the  best  coffee  in  Europe; 
dinner  and  supper  in  the  caf^s  and  restaurants. 
At  five  P.M.,  another  band  and  promenading;  Polish 
Jews  in  long  coats,  Bohemians  looking  like  Turks, 
many  ladies  in  short  white  dresses  and  elegant 
tennis-like  shoes  with  high  heels  and  in  cocked 
hats  —  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow ;  a  handsome 
Prussian  lady  in  a  black  velvet  helmet,  and  figures 
like  those  on  the  stage ;  some  quiet  English  and 
German  persons ;  many  gay  Jews.  We  have  four 
concerts  per  day;  I  go  to  them  all.  (I  send  pro- 
gramme.) Next  to  our  house  was  Goethe's  house 
(1823),  and  on  a  quiet  summit  among  the  firs  was 
Goethe's  seat,  with  this  lovely  verse:  — 

"  '  Ueber  alien  Gipfeln 
1st  Ruh, 

In  alien  Wipfeln 
Spiirest  du 
Kaum  einen  Hauch, 
Die  Vogelein  schweigen  im  Walde. 
Warte  nur  !  balde 
Ruhest  du  auch  5 ' 

"It's  a  queer  place,  with  mountain  air  and  won- 
derful waters.  My  room  is  elegant  —  blue  porce- 
lain stove  and  cast  of  Mars  on  top." 

A  walking-trip  in  Switzerland  was  planned,  and 
on  the  first  of  August  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brace  were 
joined  by  their  daughters  and  some  friends  at 
Miirren,     Ten  brilliant  days  there  were  a  restful 


^T.  62]       SCHWARZ-SEE  NEAR  ZERMATT  451 

preparation  for  the  walk  amid  the  grand  scenes  of 
the  Gemmi  Pass  and  the  Zermatt  Valley,  where, 
after  a  day's  rest,  the  journey  continued  on  to 
Schwarz-See,  on  a  spur  of  the  Matterhorn. 

"Here  we  are,"  he  writes  to  Dr.  Howard,  dating 
his  letter:  "In  the  clouds  near  the  Matterhorn, 
Zermatt,  Aug.  26,  1888,"  .  .  .  "at  the  end  of  our 
high  wanderings,  the  hotel  some  eight  thousand  feet 
high,  new  and  like  an  Adirondack  house.  The 
storm  and  snow  have  driven  out  all  but  us  and  two 
travellers.  This  is  the  grandest  place  in  the  Alps. 
You  are  in  the  midst  of  mighty  snow-peaks  and 
stern,  wild  glaciers,  or  dirty  rivers  of  ice,  with  the 
great  mountain-passes  near  by,  which  are  smooth, 
white  openings  of  snow  amid  jagged  black  peaks. 
A  grand,  severe,  desolate  scene,  amid  the  solitudes 
of  nature.  There  is  the  Matterhorn  over  us  (four- 
teen thousand  feet),  Monte  Rosa  opposite  (nearly 
fifteen  thousand  feet),  and  Mischabel  as  high, — 
nothing  but  glaciers  and  dark  mountain-sides,  and 
eternal  snows." 

But  before  the  snow  and  storm  of  which  he  speaks 
set  in,  Mr.  Brace  had  been  deeply  impressed  with 
the  grandeur  of  the  scene,  and  had  revelled  in  the 
sunshine  and  delicate  Alpine  flowers.  One  memo- 
rable night,  especiall}'-,  was  often  alluded  to  after- 
wards, when  the  whole  vast  Zermatt  Valley  was 
filled  with  a  white  mist,  while  the  little  plateau 
of  Schwarz-See  rose  above  it  in  the  brilliant  cold 


452  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1888 

starlight.  The  peaks  above  cast  their  shadows,  as 
the  moon  rose  over  the  mist  spread  like  a  great  sea, 
while  the  roar  of  torrents  "seemed  to  be  the  sound  of 
waves,"  he  said,  "on  a  distant  shore."  The  only 
human  sign  in  the  vast  miles  of  mountains  and 
snow  was  the  little  distant  light  of  the  Riffelberg, 
a  habitation  on  the  other  shore  of  this  unearthly 
sea. 

"We  had  a  glorious  time  in  Switzerland,"  he 
writes  Mrs.  Lyell,  "especially  in  Murren,  and  at  a 
new  place,  'Schwarz-See, '  near  the  Matterhorn,  above 
Zermatt  (some  eight  thousand  one  hundred  feet 
high).  The  air  at  Miirren  didn't  seem  to  me  too 
rare,  but  in  the  high  places  it  was  so.  The  weather 
was  glorious.  We  are  now  to  make  a  round  of  visits 
among  old  friends,  and  then  sail  Sept.  29th.  Have 
you  read  Frederick  Harrison's  'Cromwell'?  It  is 
excellent. 

"I  say,  as  a  descendant  of  Puritans,  'Robert 
Elsmere '  is  a  powerful  book,  but  the  author's 
construction  does  not  seem  to  me  satisfactory.  A 
religion  without  Christ  is  not  enough  for  human 
wants.  I  am  deeply  interested  in  Buddhism  now,  but 
can  find  little  new  about  it.  I  hope,  dear  Mrs.  Lyell, 
that  you  are  strong  and  well.  My  wife  and 
daughter  join  me  in  warm  regards." 

Upon  his  return  to  America,  Mr.  Brace  writes  of 
public  affairs  to  Mr.  Redmayne  as  follows :  — 


^T.  62]  POLITICS  453 

To  E.  B.  Redmayne^  Esq. 

Ches-knoll,  Nov.  20,  1888. 

My  dear  Mr.  Redmayne :  Since  our  arrival  we 
have  had  our  glorious  autumn,  and  I  have  been 
plunged  in  work;  and  Avith  it  all,  came  an  exciting 
election.  Contrary  to  my  hopes,  we  were  beaten, 
but  not  by  the  cities  or  manufacturing  centres  — 
those  were  for  free  trade  or,  rather,  low  tariff.  The 
old,  intelligent,  high-protection  farming-countries 
beat  us,  whose  real  interest  w^as  w'ith  us.  It  was 
too  great  a  reform  to  hope  for  so  soon.  It  no  doubt 
will  be  delayed  for  some  eight  or  ten  years  now,  as 
the  Protection  party  will  gain  in  the  South  and  far 
West.  But  the  Central  West  will  gradually  come 
over  to  free  trade.  This  canvass  has  been  a  contest 
in  education,  and  the  people  have  learned  much. 
Our  politics  for  years  will  be  a  training  in  political 
economy  and  a  struggle  about  the  drinking-question. 

Personally  and  intellectually  I  am  busy  on  Buddh- 
ism, and  continually  with  more  interest  and  respect. 
There  looms  up  through  the  mist  of  legend  and 
poetry,  the  face  of  a  divine  man  of  almost  super- 
human compassion  and  purity,  filled  wdth  love  for 
all  creatures,  a  manifestation  of  the  Infinite  One, 
whom  to  know  hereafter  is  the  life  and  joy  of  the 
Buddhist. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

Bryce's  Book  —  Death  of  I\Ir.  Skinner  —  Letter  from  Virginia  — 
Adirondack  Trip  —  Last  Report  —  Letters — "The  Unknown 
God "  —  Letters  on  "The  Unknown  God "  —  Offers  of  his  Son 
to  come  to  New  York  as  his  Father's  Assistant  —  Last  Journey 
—  The  Dolomites  —  St.  Moritz  —  His  Increasing  Weakness  — 
Death 

Ox  Mr.  Brace's  return  from  Europe  he  found 
everything  connected  with  the  society  prospering, 
and  the  report  of  the  work  of  the  preceding  year 
called  forth  from  Mr.  Potter  these  words :  — 

"...  I  have  been  reading  your  last  report  with 
great  interest  and  great  satisfaction.  I  won't  say 
you  never  wrote  a  better,  where  all  have  been  so 
good,  but  I  must  say  I  think  this  last  is,  at  least, 
a  proof  of  the  saying  that  'practice  makes  perfect.' 
It  seems  to  me  a  model  in  mode  of  presentation  and 
as  good  English.  In  fact,  I  make  you  my  compli- 
ments particularly  on  it  as  a  bit  of  composition  — 
though  perhaps  in  so  doing  'I  say  it  who  shouldn't ' 
—  when  I  remember  that  the  work  I  am  praising  did 
not  have  the  benefit  of  the  revision  which  formerly 
3'ou  used  to  invite  from  George  Cabot  Ward  and 
myself.  But  it  is  time  you  were  able  to  walk 
alone.   .   .  . 

454 


^T.  62]     "THE  AMERICAN  COISBION WEALTH"    455 

"...  I  have  been  thinking  to-day  of  the  many 
years  we  have  been  associated  in  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  and  of  what  an  honor  I  consider  it  to  have 
had  any  part  with  you  in  that  great  work.  May  you 
long  be  spared  to  direct  it,  and  to  see  the  fruit  of 
your  labors,  which  it  yields  more  and  more  abun- 
dantly as  the  years  go  on!  I  shall  always  rejoice 
with  you  in  it,  I  trust,  so  long  as  we  are  spared  to 
continue  together  in  it.   ..." 

On  Christmas  Day  Mr.  Brace  received  from  Mr. 
James  Bryce  his  book,  "The  American  Common- 
wealth." Mr.  Bryce  had  twice  spent  the  Christmas 
Day  at  Ches-knoll,  to  the  great  delight  of  the 
family,  and  after  one  of  these  visits  Mr.  Brace 
wrote  to  a  friend,  "Bryce  we  think  the  most 
agreeable  Englishman  we  ever  had  here." 

"It  came  very  nicely,"  he  writes  to  Mr.  Bryce  on 
New  Year's  Day,  "  that  your  beautiful  book  reached 
us  on  Christmas  morning,  the  day  you  had  twice 
made  pleasanter  for  us. 

"  I  at  once  made  at  it.  I  must  be  frank  and  say 
I  had  not  expected  very  much  from  it.  It  is  such 
a  fearfully  complex  and  difficult  theme,  and  you 
seemed  to  me  to  be  mooning  around  here  and  having  a 
good  time  generally,  and  at  home  were  so  intensely 
busy.  I  did  not  dream  you  would  penetrate  the 
subject  so  deeply.  The  young  ladies  recall  with 
glee  now  that  you  always  left  deep  questions  in  the 
library  for  their  frivolities  in  the  music-room,  but 
they  say  that  if  they  had  known  there  was  such  a 


456  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1889 

'chiel  amang  them  taking  notes,'  they  would  have 
been  in  terror. 

"I  am  entirely  delighted  with  the  book.  The 
work  reveals  yourself  and  makes  us  all  love  you  the 
more.  There  is  such  an  insight  and  such  sympathy 
and  a  wonderful  fairness  and  justice.  You  have 
observed  with  an  excellent  effect,  and  reflected  as 
well.  The  Irish  humor  and  sprightliness  runs 
through  it  charmingly.  You  have  got  back  your 
old  vivacious  and  clear  style,  too  (which  we  recall 
in  the  'Holy  Roman  Empire').  I  should  have 
reviewed  it  at  once  for  the  New  York  'Times,'  but 
they  anticipated  me  by  a  notice  which  was  capital. 
It  will  do  great  good  here,  and  much  in  England. 
I  fancy  the  chapter  which  will  strike  attention  most 
there,  will  be  that  on  the  'Pleasantness  of  American 
Life,'  and  with  us,  that  on  our  'Future.'  I  find 
myself  nearly  always  agreeing  with  your  conclusions 
and  observations.  I  have  not  read  all  the  serious 
parts  yet,  and  therefore  have  not  struck  on  some 
things  which  I  expect;  as  the  'Tendency  to  Bribery 
in  Elections,'  and  the  'Conservative  Drift  in 
Amendments  to  State  Constitutions.'  Perhaps 
New  York  is  more  of  a  social  'Capital'  than  you 
suppose.  Loring  says  the  young  girls  in  the  West 
look  upon  it  with  awe  and  reverence,  as  the 
Bostonians  used  to  wish  to  go  to  Paris  when  they 
died! 

"I  think  you  have  hardly  done  justice  to  the 
small  lake  scenery  —  like  the  Adirondacks  and 
others.  They  relieve  that  'uniformity'  of  which 
you  so  justly  speak.  Before  you  write  your  book 
on  'American  Scenery,'  etc.,  etc.,  you  must  camp 


^T.  62]     RECEPTIOX  OF  THE  BOOK  IN  AMERICA  457 

there.  I  think  the  most  lovely  descriptive  passage 
of  your  book  is  that  about  New  Orleans.  The  polit- 
ical parts  are  admirable.  It  will  be  an  authority  on 
our  commonwealth  for  fifty  years  to  come.  You 
have  done  a  great  service,  and  immortalized  your 
name.  God  bless  you,  and  give  you  many  New 
Years  for  such  work!  " 

In  reply  he  received  the  following :  — 

From  Mr.  J,  Bryce. 

April  5,  1889. 

My  dear  Mr.  Brace :  Heartiest  thanks  for  your 
kind  letter,  which  was  awaiting  me  when  I  returned 
from  India.  Your  praise  does  me  good.  Though  I 
credit  some  part  of  it  to  your  friendly  view  of  my 
work,  I  am  sure  you  speak  what  you  think.  The 
cordial  reception  of  the  book  in  America  has  gone 
far  beyond  anything  I  had  ventured  to  hope  for,  and 
the  criticisms  1  was  obliged  to  make  on  political  men 
and  methods  have  been  taken  in  wonderfully  good 
part;  indeed,  not  a  single  thing  has  reached  me  from 
your  side  which  has  not,  even  when  disagreeing, 
been  kindly  in  its  tone. 

I  am  conscious  of  some  defects  and  omissions,  and 
should  be  very  glad,  in  view  of  the  new  edition 
which  the  publishers  tell  me  will  soon  be  needed, 
to  be  told  of  others  which  may  have  escaped  me. 
There  is  rather  too  much  repetition;  and  perhaps 
a  deficient  positiveness  or  clearness  in  stating  the 
general   conclusions    I   reached.     To   remedy   these 


458  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1889 

faults  one  might  have  to  recast  some  chapters  and 
even  add  one  or  two.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  attempt 
this. 

What  you  say  about  the  lake  scenery  of  such  places 
as  Lake  George  and  the  Adirondacks  is  true.  They 
ought  to  have  been  referred  to.  It  amuses  and 
pleases  me  a  good  deal  to  think  that  I  succeeded  so 
well  in  concealing  from  you  any  serious  purpose  in 
my  inquiries,  and  was  considered  by  the  young 
ladies  to  be  properly  and  adequately  frivolous.  .  .  . 
Thank  you  once  more  for  such  a  delightful  commen- 
dation as  you  have  given  me. 

The  opening  of  the  new  year  of  1889  calls  forth 
the  following  letter :  — 


To  Miss  Flower. 

Ches-knoll,  Jan.  27,  1889. 

My  dear  Rosalie :  .  .  .  As  the  years  flit  by,  one 
feels  ever  nearer  the  great  journey;  and  yet  you 
cannot  see  through  the  mists.  You  know  that  God 
is  there  and  you  are  in  His  hands,  and  you  hope  that 
He  will  use  you  there  in  His  plans  even  more  than 
here,  but  how  exactly,  who  can  say  ?  If  one  thought 
of  it  much,  how  trivial  would  life  seem !  We  should 
not  do  our  duty  in  the  world.  I  have  been  deep  in 
my  study  of  the  ways  of  God  in  heathen  religions. 
The  past  of  mankind  does  not  now  seem  a  black 
ocean  covered  with  fog  and  storm,  and  wrecks  drift- 
ing everywhere,  but  a  long  wake  of  light  crosses  it 


iET.  62]  DEATH  OF  MR.   SKINNER  459 

coming  from  the  Light  that  lighteth  every  man  in 
the  world,  the  Pharos  of  humanity  —  the  Spirit  of 
God.  In  that  gleam,  the  nations  have  steered  their 
barks  and  made  towards  haven.  He  hath  not  left 
Himself  without  a  witness. 

We  have  had  a  very  busy  winter  —  opening  or 
preparing  for  three  or  four  new  buildings,  and  other- 
wise extending  our  work.  My  newsboys'  meetings 
have  been  unusually  full  and  good.  Ches-knoU  has 
been  a  haven  of  rest  and  beauty  this  winter.  In  the 
memory  of  man  no  such  season  has  been  seen ;  no  ice 
at  all.  I  hope  you  will  read  Bryce's  book  —  the  best 
ever  written  on  America. 

The  letters  following  tell  of  his  annual  Southern 
trip  suddenly  broken  in  upon  by  a  message  when 
he  was  in  Washington,  announcing  the  death  of 
his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  J.  W.  Skinner.  Mr. 
Skinner  had  been,  for  years,  the  superintendent  of 
the  schools  in  the  Children's  Aid  Society.  His 
sunny,  loving  nature  had  inspired  those  working 
with  him  wherever  he  went.  He  was  deeply  loved 
in  the  many  schools  of  the  society,  both  by  teachers 
and  children,  and  carried  with  him,  in  addition  to 
the  stimulus  of  his  keen,  scientific  interest  in  every 
new  development  in  the  methods  of  education,  a 
fund  of  cheery  hopefulness  that  put  courage  into 
the  most  weary  heart.  In  speaking  of  the  sudden 
summons  home,  Mr.  Brace  writes :  — 


460  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1889 

To  Lucius  Tuekerman. 

Ches-knoll,  April  4,  1889, 

My  dear  Mr.  Tuekerman :  It  is  hard  to  be  followed 
so  by  the  messenger  of  death,  and  to  return  to  a 
broken  home.  Yet  it  has  been  my  happy  lot  never 
to  have  such  messages  from  my  immediate  family. 
My  bi'other-in-law  had  had  some  forty  years  of  very 
happy  life  with  my  sister,  and  twenty-two  years  of 
most  satisfactory  work  for  our  poor  children.  Some- 
how your  talks  always  take  hold  of  me,  and  what 
you  said  of  your  theology  yesterday  was  precisely 
my  own  view  —  that  the  habitual  unselfishness  of 
the  soul  fits  it  naturally  for  the  spiritual  life,  to  be 
"partaker  of  the  divine  nature."  So  my  friend  went 
forth  into  the  darkness  all  ready;  he  lived  in  God 
here,  and  must  there.  His  death  was  most  calm  and 
trustful.  I  was  so  sorry  to  disturb  your  family  by 
the  sudden  departure — but  when  Death  raps!  Yet 
the  single  day  with  you,  and  in  that  lovely  home, 
seemed  to  restore  me  physically  and  mentally. 

To  his   sons   he  wrote :  — 

"...  The  nurses  said  they  never  saw  any  one  so 
sweet  and  calm  and  undisturbed.  He  did  not  suffer 
much,  and  died  without  a  struggle.  What  a  loss  to 
poor  M —  and  to  our  work!  A  broken,  desolate 
home.  Our  teachers  feel  it  deeply.  .  .  .  Now^  where 
is  he  ?  He  lived  substantially  here,  as  he  will  live 
there.  His  aims  and  purposes  and  habits  of  mind 
must  be  similar;  only  he  is  nearer  God.  Peace  be 
with  him,  and  Christ's  comfort  to  your  poor  aunt!  " 


^T.  62]  GREAT  MEN  FROM  VIRGINIA  461 

He  writes  of  his  occupation  at  this  period :  — 

"...  I  work  slowly  and  steadily  at  my  book. 
I  am  now  on  the  Hindoo  (Vedic)  religions.  There 
is  an  awful  amount  of  trash  with  them,  and  sensual 
vagaries.  Nothing  like  the  elevation  of  the  Persian. 
Where  did  our  Scriptures  get  their  superiority  of 
form  ?  I  doubt  if  our  theological  Christ  ever  touches 
the  Orient.  Perhaps  the  real  Christ  will.  Next  I 
come  to  Buddhism,  and  then  perhaps  to  Mohamme- 
danism.    All  I  can  get  is  about  one  hour  a  day." 

But  the  Southern  trip  is  resumed. 

To  his  Daughter. 

MiLFORD,  Va.,  April  27,  1889. 
My  dear  E — ;  I  have  been  looking  after  the 
boys  in  this  rather  wild  part  of  Virginia,  and  stop 
to  have  a  little  chat  with  you  after  your  nice  note. 
I  am  much  struck  with  the  fine,  English-like  men 
in  this  State,  large  and  robust  and  ruddy,  with  regu- 
lar features.  Their  heroes  seem  handsome  too, —  Lee 
and  Johnston  and  Stonewall  Jackson.  The  climate 
must  be  just  right  for  our  race.  Jackson  stands  in 
his  bronze  statue,  firm  as  "a  stone  wall."  What  a 
wonderful  galaxy  of  great  men  in  the  group  on  the 
green  at  Richmond,  men  of  immortal  fame  from  such 
a  little  community!  Washington  in  the  centre,  and 
around,  Jefferson,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  Madison, 
Patrick  Henry,  etc.,  etc.  It  is  astonishing  that 
Virginia  could  have  produced  so  many  and  so  great. 
Washington's  statue  by  Houdin  in  the  State  House 


462  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1889 

is  wonderful  —  looks  like  a  French  Revolutionary- 
chief,  full  of  fire,  and  a  young  man ;  yet  he  was  old, 
they  say.  The  town  is  very  pretty,  and  Olmsted  is 
laying  out  a  very  pretty  suburb.  But  the  babies  are 
most  obstreperous  and  ungoverned.  I  am  better  for 
the  change.  All  West  Virginia  is  booming  with 
speculations. 

To  his  Wife. 

Lexington,  Va.,  April  29,  1889. 

Dearest  Wife :  This  has  been  so  beautiful  a  trip, 
and  the  Virginia  spring  so  lovely,  and  Asheville  so 
wonderful,  that  I  have  thought  we  must  take  it 
together  next  year,  if  we  can  bear  the  cost.  You 
would  enjoy  that  Asheville  valley  so  much. 

J. 's  sudden  death  gives  me  many  serious  thoughts. 
I  often  think  of  what  a  happy  life  we  have  had 
together,  and  how  much  good  you  have  done  me, 
and  I  suppose  I  have  you,  intellectually.  God  bless 
you,  ever!  I  feel  more  easy  about  death  now  the 
children  are  pretty  well  cared  for.  It  will  be  well 
with  us  in  the  unseen,  I  am  persuaded.  Life  has 
been  very  pleasant,  and  the  unseen  life  must  be  more 
and  better.  I  want  my  last  days  to  be  better.  God 
keep  you,  and  make  us  both  true  servants!  I  love 
you  more  than  ever!  .  .  .  I  have  written  my  "  Stoic" 
chapter  this  trip.      Vale  ! 

On  his  birthday,  Mr.  Brace  wrote  Mr.  Potter,  as  he 
was  apt  to  do,  reflections  on  the  years  behind  him. 
The  letter  containing  these,  together  with  one  to  his 


^T.  63]  BIRTHDAY  THOUGHTS  463 

daughter,  Mrs.  Croswell,  referring  to  the  same  occa- 
sion, are  to  be  found  below. 

To  Mr.  Howard  Potter. 

Ches-knoll,  June  19,  1889. 

3Ty  dear  Potter :  I  hardly  know  why  I  always 
incline  to  write  you  a  note  on  my  birthday,  unless 
because  we  are  at  about  the  same  age,  and  I  always 
think  of  your  friendship  as  one  of  the  rich  gifts  of  life. 

Both  of  us  must  now  feel  that  a  very  slight  cause 
may  call  us  away  to  the  Unseen.  I  think  of  the 
Future  with  wonder  and  curiosity,  but  not  feeling 
that  we  can  know  much.  One  can  only  trust.  The 
great  anxiety  is  to  make  the  remaining  days  the  best, 
and  to  "  finish  up." 

My  European  trips  have  given  me  a  new  lease  of 
life,  and  I  want  to  use  it  for  His  service.  Strange 
what  happiness  there  is  in  life  !  How  grateful  I  am 
for  it  to  the  Giver !  My  sixty  years  with  hardly  a 
pain  or  ache  (except  in  one  sickness),  a  freshness  now 
as  of  full  life,  the  happiest  home  and  married  life, 
perfect  comfort ;  saved  thus  far  from  death  in  my 
family ;  a  work  where  I  never  tire ;  an  unceasing 
interest  in  intellectual  things ;  a  love  of  man  and  of 
Christ  which  grows  with  years.  Now  this  has  been 
my  lot,  far  beyond  all  possibility  of  desert, 

I  am  so  grateful  to  wife  and  children  and  friends, 
and,  above  all,  to  the  Pronoia  or  Providence !  It 
shows  that  happiness  does  not  depend  on  money  or 
position. 

Two  things  I  want  still  to  do,  —  to  put  the  Society 


464  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1889 

on  a  firmer  base  (which  can  be  done  in  three  or  four 
years),  and  to  make  my  last  sermon  to  the  world  in  a 
book.  It  is  to  appear  (D.V.)  next  November,  and  its 
title  (don't  shudder !)  "  The  Unknown  God,  or  In- 
spiration among  Pre-Christian  Peoples."  There  ! 
You  see  my  destiny  ! 

"Many  thanks  for  your  loving  note,"  he  writes 
to  his  daughter,  "  the  best  possible  present.  I  pulled 
my  family  over  to  the  Palisades  on  my  birthday, 
just  as  I  did  thirty-three  years  ago,  in  the  heat  — 
pretty  good  for  sixty-three  !  And  rejoice  in  unspoken 
gratitude  over  the  innumerable  blessings  granted  me 
in  a  long  life  by  a  kind  Father,  and  among  them 
not  least,  yours  and  your  husband's  affection.  He 
is  a  great  treasure  to  me." 

The  summer  trip  of  1889,  his  last  in  the  old, 
beloved  haunts,  was  one  continuous  delight.  The 
letters  inserted  tell  how  complete  was  his  enjoy- 
ment; but  alas,  he  did  not  gain  the  good  that  had 
been  expected,  and  went  home  in  the  autumn  far 
from  well. 

To  his  Daughter. 

Little  Tupper  Lake,  July  25,  1889. 
My  dear  E — ;  This  revisiting  the  old  scenes  of 
my  exuberant  youth  and  manhood  is  very  interesting 
to  me.  I  am  now  a  father  in  Israel  to  the  Adiron- 
dackers.  It  is  lovely,  solitary,  dreamy  as  ever.  A 
lifetime  has  hardly  touched  this  lake.     I  rejoice  so 


\ 


^T.  63]  THE   ADIRONDACKS  465 

that  you  children  were  rocked  in  this  wikl  cradle; 
and  your  mother  gained  here  eternal  youth.  The  air 
is  as  divine  as  ever,  heat  from  60°  to  75°,  a  hush 
over  everything;  the  only  sound  the  fiddling-bird, 
and  a  distant  roar  of  pines ;  all  bathed  in  a  soft,  moist 
atmosphere,  and  as  if  in  a  slumber  of  a  thousand 
years.  We  have  good  company,  fair  fishing,  a  pleas- 
ant house,  plenty  of  venison  and  trout,  and  a  nice 
out-door  life,  but  "  carries  "  expensive.  We  miss  you 
greatl}^  dear,  and  trust  to  see  you  soon  at  Childwold. 
Tell  James  I  have  been  studying  his  translation  of 
"Cleanthes'  Hymn,"  and  like  its  rugged  strength, 
and  am  going  to  send  it  to  him  for  revision  before 
printing.  Much  love  to  Leta.  How  happy  your 
summer  will  be ! 


To  Dr.  Hoivard. 

Little  Topper  Lake,  July  31,  1889. 

My  dear  George :  Here  we  are  on  our  old  tracks. 
Just  met  Sutton,  a  hale  old  man,  our  guide  on  our 
first  trip  on  Long  Lake  (wife  says  thirty-four  years 
ago!)  .  .  .  The  desolater,  the  lumber-man,  has  not 
reached  here,  but  next  year  he  will  come,  and  all 
will  be  ruin.  (I  have  written  to  the  "  Times  "  !) 
We  had  a  week  first  at  Rainbow,  and  capital  company 
(some  clergy,  etc.)  and  first-rate  fishing;  here  two 
weeks  and  splendid  sport.  L.  and  I  last  evening, 
without  a  landing-net,  took  two  half  pounders,  and 
one  one  and  a  quarter  pounds  near  the  house,  and 
to-day  in  a  few  minutes,  one  two  and  a  quarter 
pounds  and  one  half  pound,  all  on  a  fly.  Good 
2h 


466  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1889 

sport,  isn't  it?     The  house  has  been  full  of  trout 
and  venison.   .   .   . 

I  like  much  your  idea  of  writing  for  the  Boston 
paper  on  my  new  book.  I  will  have  an  early  copy 
sent  you.  I  will  send,  in  October,  proofs  of  the 
"Stoic"  chapters — perhaps  the  best  of  the  book. 
What  do  you  think  of  a  chapter  on  Confucianism? 
Is  that  an  inspiration  —  a  religion?  Would  it  be 
well  to  try  Mohammedanism?  Is  it  pre-Christian, 
and  is  it  inspired?  I  get  my  first  proof  of  "Egyp- 
tian "  chapter  in  September.  The  volume  is  to  be 
published  in  England  and  here  at  end  of  November. 
I  fear  me  the  book  is  not  long  enough.  I  find  people 
are  interested  in  it  wherever  I  read  it. 

The  writing  of  the  report  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  for  1889,  the  last  he  wrote,  was  a  severe 
strain  on  Mr.  Brace.  He  reflects  that  the  passing 
away  of  two  of  their  valued  workers  in  the  past  year, 
Judge  Van  Vorst,  a  trustee,  and  Mr.  Skinner,  the 
superintendent  of  schools,  makes  it  a  fitting  time  to 
ask,  "  What  has  given  this  work  its  success  and  en- 
durance, and  what  is  likely  to  be  its  future?"  He 
says  that  it  is  not  possible  tliat  all  the  present  laborers 
and  guides  will  continue  much  longer  in  the  field. 
His  praise  is  unstinted  for  the  faithfulness  of  all  those 
connected  with  the  society,  and  he  asks  the  question 
how  far  their  labors  "  will  bring  forth  fruit  in  other 
lives,  and  induce  young  men  and  women  to  take  up 
the  laboring  oar  in  our  great  struggle  with  poverty, 


^T.  63]  FUTURE  OF  THE  SOCIETY  467 

vice,  and  wretchedness  ?  "  He  says  that  "  the  success 
of  these  workers  is  due  primarily  to  their  own  spirit 
of  enthusiasm  and  religious  and  humane  earnestness. 
All  through  the  society  our  teachers  and  employes 
have  striven  to  carry  blessings  to  others  with  the 
same  zeal  with  which  others  strive  for  money  or  for 
fame.  They  have  an  exceeding  great  reward,  not 
in  the  Avorld's  applause,  but  in  the  fruits  of  their 
efforts."  He  states  his  belief  that  no  business 
company  can  present  greater  faithfulness  and  exact- 
ness than  these  diligent  laborers  have  shown  during 
the  past  twenty-five  years,  and  continues  with  the 
words :  — 

"  We  have  every  reason  to  hope  that  even  in  the 
distant  future  the  same  economy,  unselfish  enthusi- 
asm for  humanity,  and  utter  faithfulness  will  be 
manifested  by  the  laborers  in  this  society  as  have 
been  in  the  past.  The  death  of  its  leaders  need  make 
no  difference,  except  that  their  example  might  in  mem- 
ory add  a  fresh  stimulus  to  efforts  for  humanity  and 
for  God.  Those  of  us  who  will  soon  pass  away  will 
ask  no  higher  honor  than  to  have  moved  others  in 
coming  years  to  carry  on  in  like  spirit  these  great 
enterprises  of  compassion  and  mercy." 

With  trust  and  hopefulness  that  also  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  work  there  will  remain  the  same 
character,  he  says  that  the  younger  men  who  have 
recently  entered  the  board  are  displaying  the  same 


468  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1889 

earnestness  as  their  older  predecessors,  and  he 
doubts  not  will  continue  to  do  so.  In  the  last 
paragraph  of  his  book,  "  The  Dangerous  Classes  of 
New  York,"  this  belief  is  expressed:  — 

"To  those  now  serving  in  it,  no  thought  can  be 
sweeter,  when  their  'change  of  guard'  conies,  than 
that  the  humble  organization  of  humanity  and  Chris- 
tian kindness,  which,  amid  many  labors  and  sacri- 
fices, they  aided  to  found,  will  spread  good-will  and 
intelligence  and  relief  and  religious  light  to  the 
children  of  the  unfortunate  and  the  needy,  long 
years  after  even  their  names  are  forgotten;  and  for 
monument  or  record  of  their  work,  they  cannot  ask 
for  more  enduring  than  young  lives  redeemed  from 
crime  and  misery,  and  young  hearts  purified  and 
ennobled  by  Christ,  and  many  orphans'  tears  wiped 
away,  and  wounds  of  the  lonely  and  despairing  'little 
ones'  of  the  world  healed  through  instrumentalities 
which  they  assisted  to  plant,  and  which  shall  con- 
tinue when  they  are  long  gone." 

As  to  the  reasons  of  the  success  and  permanence 
of  the  work,  Mr.  Brace  sums  up  in  a  few  words  the 
guiding  principles  of  this  charity,  and,  as  he  says, 
of  the  charity  of  the  future.  The  relative  value 
he  placed  upon  the  different  agencies  is  concisely 
stated.  First  and  foremost  he  puts  individual  in- 
fluence; then  "home  life  as  opposed  to  institution 
life;  the  lessons  of  industry  and  self-help  as  better 
than  any  alms;   the  following  natural  laws   in  the 


^T.  63]     GUIDIXG  IDEAS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  469 

treatment  of  poverty;  the  implanting  of  moral  and 
religious  truths  in  union  with  the  supply  of  bodily 
wants;  and  the  entire  change  of  circumstances  as 
the  best  cure  for  the  habits  and  defects  of  the 
children  of  the  lowest  poor."  These  guiding  ideas, 
laid  down  by  the  Children's  Aid  Society  from  the 
first  year,  have  steadily  ruled  its  course  throughout, 
and  as  a  result  of  efforts  directed  by  these  principles, 
both  in  this  and  other  societies  like  it,  he  can  say 
"with  great  satisfaction,  that  there  is  no  need,  at 
this  day,  for  any  child  in  the  city  of  New  York  to 
be  homeless  beyond  a  certain  short  period ;  that  no 
boy  or  girl  need  suffer  long  for  want  of  work  or 
place;  that  no  child  need  be  driven  to  crime  for 
support;  and  that  the  poorest  child,  in  whatever 
filth  or  rags,  need  not  be  excluded  from  education 
and  careful  training  in  school." 

During  this  autumn  Mr.  Brace  was  busy  correct- 
ing the  proofs  of  his  book,  "The  Unknown  God," 
and  often  expressed  his  gratification  that  he  had 
been  able  to  finish  the  original  work  during  the 
spring  before,  the  proof-reading  being  at  this  time 
almost  too  great  a  task  for  him. 

"  I  think  we  shall  have  the  book  out  in  about  four 
weeks,"  he  writes  Dr.  Howard  in  November,  1889. 
"...  The  best  chapters  you  haven't  seen  are  on 
the  '  Stoics. '     I  think  '  Buddhism'  will  be  the  chapter 


470  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1890 

most  read.  I  have  a  lovely  title-page  with  a  Greek 
altar  and  an  inscription  to  Agnosto  Theo,  etc.  .  .  . 
Have  just  finished  my  annual  report  and  my  book; 
and  yet  in  a  very  bad  condition  of  bodj^" 

The  allusion  to  his  bad  condition  of  body,  in  the 
last  letter,  must  have  called  forth  some  anxious 
questions  from  Dr.  Howard.  The  latter's  solicitude 
for  his  friend's  health  induced  Mr.  Brace  to  write 
as  follows,  alluding  to  his  physical  condition  with 
an  openness  to  which  he  had  usually  a  great 
aversion:  — 

"  Thanks  for  your  kind  sympathy  in  my  ailments, " 
he  writes  in  January,  1890.  "  The  future  is  very 
uncertain,  but  I  wait,  as  you  will  understand,  in 
perfect  calmness.  It  came  about  so.  I  am  always 
driving  ray  machine  to  the  utmost,  and  my  weakness 
lays  me  open.  A  few  years  ago  I  committed  the 
folly  of  swimming  in  Big  Tupper  after  a  hot  day's 
work.  Had  peritonitis  at  night,  but  two  days'  rest 
restored  me.  .  .  .  My  visits  to  German  springs 
cured  me  different  years,  but  last  autumn,  not 
having  been  there,  symptoms  came  on  again  badly, 
and  threaten  the  kidneys.  I  shall  try  Marienbad 
(Bohemia)  again  this  summer.  My  strong  consti- 
tution is,  of  course,  in  my  favor;  still  no  one  can 
tell.  .  .  .  So,  you  see,  I  am  to  battle  with  disease. 
God  guideth  all.  You  can  imagine  how  devoted 
and  untiring  a  nurse  dear  Letitia  has  been." 

To  another  friend  he  says,  writing  on  January 
9th:  — 


JEt.  63]  "THE   UNKNOWN  GOD"  471 

"You  will  receive,  as  a  token  to  my  gratitude  for 
your  long  friendship,  my  new  book  which  is  to  come 
out  about  the  fifteenth.  I  should  have  been  out  to 
see  you,  but  Providence  is  trying  me  for  service  by 
a  period  of  sickness,  though  I  have  been  able  to  keep 
about  my  duties.  I  am  following  your  footsteps,  and 
learning  to  wait  and  feel  myself  weak. 

"  '  I  shall  arrive, 

In  God's  good  time, 
Whether  soon  or  late.' 

"With  best  wishes  for  the  New  Year,  yours,  etc." 

In  the  middle  of  January,  the  book,  "The 
Unknown  God,"  appeared,  and  the  many  favorable 
notices  and  cordial  letters  which  he  received  were 
very  welcome  to  him.  He  was  especially  pleased  to 
see  a  notice  of  two  and  one-quarter  columns  in  the 
"London  Times"  —  "A  rare  thing  for  them  with 
such  a  subject,"  he  says. 

A  letter  referring  to  the  book,  written  by  him, 
and  also  one  or  two  to  him,  are  as  follows :  — 


To  Br.  Howard. 

Ches-knoll,  January,  1890. 
My  dear  G-eorge  .•...!  begin  to  get  warm  letters. 
President  Porter  is  going  to  hand  the  book  to  Chris- 
tian Japanese  students  there,  and  get  their  opinion. 
He  welcomes  it,  and  so  do  my  strict  old  Presby- 


472  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1890 

terian  friends.  (You  know  M.  always  said  there 
was  a  strong  liberal  current  under  the  surface  in 
your  church.)  Your  article  will  help  the  book 
immensely.  .  .  .  Jan.  19,  1890.  We  got  your 
review  at  breakfast  this  morning,  and  Avere  all  greatly 
delighted  with  it.  You  always  write  well,  and  this 
is  in  the  best  newspaper  vein,  and  will  be  read  by 
tens  of  thousands  of  people  who,  alas!  read  little 
beside  the  Sunday  paper.  But  hundreds  of  others 
who  are  good  judges  will  also  read  it.  It  will  start 
the  book.  Many,  many  thanks !  I  was  saying  it  is 
such  an  advantage  to  have  a  book  reviewed  by  one 
who  has  read  it.  .  .  .  By  the  way,  as  to  Madame 
Ragozin,  she  is  not  an  authority,  but  a  brilliant  col- 
lector. The  best  opinion  of  scholars  is  against  the 
Turanian  origin  of  the  Akkadians,  and  those  prayers 
have  a  Jewish  tone,  decidedly.  It  is  a  much-disputed 
question.  .  .  .  You  quoted  a  passage  praising  the 
Jews,  and  the  next  day  a  young  Jewish  gentleman 
sent  the  Children's  Aid  Society  one  thousand  dollars. 


From  Professor  Francis  G-.  Peahody. 

Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Mass., 
Jan.  25,  1890. 

My  dear  Mr.  Brace :  I  am  seriously  indebted  to 
you  for  sending  to  me  your  new  volume,  and  deeply 
impressed  with  its  learning  and  its  tone.  What  a 
happiness  it  must  have  been  to  you  to  turn  from  the 
rush  of  charity  work  to  these  peaceful  researches, 
and  to  go  up  on  the  high  ground  of  religious  con- 
templation!    I  can  think  of  no  lot  more  full  than 


^T.  63]        MISS  COBBE  ON  VIVISECTIOX  473 

yours,  — a  life  led  among  the  most  pressing  problems 
of  our  own  time,  and  a  mind  equally  at  home  among 
the  revelations  which  are  of  all  time.  It  is  a  great 
regret  to  me  to  hear  that  you  are  not  in  good  health, 
but  I  congratulate  you  that  through  any  weakness  of 
body  you  have  been  able  to  produce  this  evidence 
both  of  strength  and  of  peace  of  mind. 


From  Frances  Power  Cobbe. 

DoLGELLT,  North  Wales,  March  11,  1890. 

Ml/  dear  Mr.  Brace  :  Again  I  have  to  acknowledge 
with  warm  thanks  the  favor  you  have  done  me  in 
sending-  me  another  beautiful  book.  Your  "Gesta 
Christi "  has  seemed  to  me  ever  since  I  read  it  the 
very  best  word  spoken  for  Christianity,  and  now  this 
book  on  "  The  Unknown  God  "  comes  to  complete  a 
truly  noble  philosophy  of  the  religious  history  of 
mankind.  The  plan  of  it  delights  me.  In  my  small 
way  I  have  studied  a  little  of  the  various  religions, 
especially  Zoroaster's,  and  I  shall  read  your  reviews 
of  them  Avith  extreme  interest.  It  is  more  than  kind 
of  you  to  remember  me  after  so  many  years,  and  to 
give  me  your  great  books. 

I  wish  I  had  my  work  to  send  in  return,  dear  Mr. 
Brace,  but  my  old  age  has  been  very  much  darkened 
and  sadly  occupied  by  a  contest  into  which  I  have 
somehow  been  drawn  (I  think  I  may  say  "led") 
against  the  new  vice  of  scientific  cruelty,  and  I  have 
very  little  time  or  freedom  of  thought  left  me  for 
anything  but  this  heart-sickening  subject.     I  will 


474  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1890 

send  you  a  few  of  my  papers  regarding  it,  and  a 
little  book  of  a  brighter  sort  ("  The  Friend  of  Man  ") 
designed  also  to  incline  people's  hearts  to  pity  the 
poor  brutes. 

You  will  be,  I  think,  a  good  deal  interested  (if  you 
have  not  heard  of  it)  in  the  programme  I  enclose  of  a 
great  undertaking  in  London,  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward 
(niece  of  Matthew  Arnold),  author  of  "Robert 
Elsmere,"  being  the  moving  spirit.  I  cannot  say  I 
am  very  hopeful  of  success ;  but  it  is  one  of  the  things 
which  ought  to  be  tried  by  us,  and  so  I  have  given 
my  name.  I  have  written  to  Mrs.  Ward  to  say  that 
"The  Unknown  God"  seems  written  for  a  class-book 
for  her  hall. 

The  strain  of  the  daily  journey  to  New  York,  and 
the  absorbing  nature  of  his  work  there,  were  beyond 
Mr.  Brace's  power  to  endure  during  this  trying 
winter,  and  he  found  it  necessary  to  seek  rest  and 
change  at  an  earlier  season  than  ever  before.  A 
cordial  invitation  in  the  month  of  February,  from 
his  cousin,  Mr.  C.  W.  Loring,  who  was  passing  the 
winter  at  Aiken,  South  Carolina,  was  promptly 
accepted,  and  in  his  next  letter  we  find  him  revel- 
ling in  the  loveliness  of  roses  and  semi-tropical 
vegetation  in  South  Carolina. 

To  his  Wife. 

Aiken,  S-CFeb.  6,  1890. 
Dearest  Wife ;  .   .   .   I  was  waiting  comfortably  on 
the  veranda  of  an  old  hotel  at  Graniteville,  enjoying 


Mr.  63]  LAST  JOURNEY  475 

a  diviue  air  and  the  beauty  of  earth  and  sky,  when 
C —  and  L —  drove  up  and  took  me  over  (six 
miles)  to  Aiken;  the  woods  semi-tropic  with  tufty 
Georgia  pines  and  yellow  jessamine,  and  under  the 
leaves  trailing  arbutus.  Here  roses  and  plum  blos- 
soms, and  May,  but  not  too  warm.  Still  as  Sunday 
everywhere  —  and  spring  here.  They  have  a  very 
pretty,  comfortable  house.  I  am  better,  but  tired. 
I  think  unceasingly  of  your  devoted  love  and  service 
of  kindness  and  affection.     God  bless  you ! 

In  May,  1890,  his  son,  Mr.  C.  L.  Brace,  Jr.,  came 
home,  with  the  intention  of  offering  his  services  as 
his  father's  assistant.  The  proposition,  made  to  his 
father  during  the  autumn  before,  that  he  should  do 
this,  and  gradually  perhaps  take  more  and  more 
responsibility  off  his  father's  shoulders,  had  been 
favorably  regarded  by  Mr.  Brace,  unwilling  though 
he  was  as  yet  to  view  the  possibility  of  needing  an 
assistant.  But  throughout  the  winter  it  had  been 
a  constantly  increasing  comfort  to  him  to  think  that 
his  son  stood  in  readiness  to  help  him  should  he 
need  it,  and  although  it  w^as  rarely  possible  for  him 
to  speak  to  those  closest  to  him  of  his  weakness  and 
failing  health,  there  were  occasional  words  dropped 
during  this  year  which  showed  how  much  this  future 
support  was  in  his  thoughts. 

On  May  22d,  Mr.  and  INIrs.  Brace,  accompanied 
by   their    younger    son    and    daughter,    sailed    for 


476  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1890 

Hamburg.  The  voyage  seemed  to  give  him  new 
strength,  but  the  slow  approach  to  Hamburg  and 
slower  landing,  and  the  warm  journey  to  Berlin, 
exhausted  him,  and  he  reached  Marienbad  in  a 
much  weakened  condition. 

The   following   letters    to    his    daughter   are   his 
last : — 

To  Ms  Daughter. 

Marienbad,  June  8,  1890. 
My  dear  E — ;  We  had  dreadfully  hot,  oppres- 
sive weather  on  the  rail,  which  exhausted  me,  but 
here  I  di-aw  new  life  again  —  air  45°  and  lovely  green 
and  copses,  and  quiet  life  and  good  diet.  I  take  my 
"veal-broth"  with  the  fat  women  every  morning, 
half  frozen,  and  feel  better.  The  doctor  is  encour- 
aging in  his  examination.  .  .  .  This  place  seems 
designed  as  the  punishment  for  years  of  fat-eating, 
beer,  and  sausages,  of  German  men  and  women. 
Here  they  atone  and  grow  thin.  It  is  like  living  in 
a  hospital  for  gout  and  corpulence ;  but  everything 
beautifully  arranged  and  much  fine  music. 


To  the  Same. 

June  22,  1890. 
My  dear  E — ;  So  many  thanks  for  your  loving 
birthday  note.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of 
my  life  that  those  who  have  loved  me  most  have  been 
nearest  to  me,  especially  in  our  society.  My  chil- 
dren have  been  an   immense  comfort.  ...     I  feel 


^T.  64]  FAILING   HEALTH  477 

Mr.  Tuckerman's  death  deeply  —  a  noble,  true  man, 
and  warm  friend  of  mine  and  my  work.  He  helped 
me  greatly.  ...  I  had  lately  another  set  of  English 
notices  of  my  book  —  very  flattering  indeed. 

Where  we  shall  be  in  August  is  not  certain,  but 
probably  in  the  Lower  Engadine,  in  some  grand  scene. 

In  the  same  letter  he  speaks  of  the  monotony  and 
vulgarity  of  a  German  "Bad,"  and  says,  "My  soul 
abhorreth  it";  yet  his  faith  that  Marienbad  would 
work  his  cure  once  more  was  so  strong  that  he  kept 
up  while  there  in  a  way  that  has  been  since  thought 
to  have  been  mere  nervous  energy,  and  not  a  real 
improvement  as  he  believed.  Certain  it  is  that  as 
soon  as  he  left  the  baths  he  at  once  began  to  fail. 
And  yet  to  those  who  knew  how  intense  was  his 
hold  upon  life,  it  will  not  be  strange  that  even  in 
his  weakened  state,  the  journey  to  Nuremberg,  the 
sight  of  old,  well-known,  and  loved  haunts  there, 
the  little  trip  to  Rothenburg,  and  his  first  glimpse 
of  that  quaint  spot,  were  all  sources  of  delight  to 
him,  and  were  enjoyed  until  physical  exhaustion 
forced  him  to  rest. 

The  family  met  at  Munich,  and  together  went  to 
the  Dolomites.  After  ten  days  at  St.  Ulrich,  which 
Mr.  Brace  could  enjoy  only  in  an  occasional  short 
stroll,  it  was  decided  to  carry  out  the  original  plan 
of  going  by  carriage,  which  was  far  easier  to  him 
than    travelling    by    train    in    the    warm    summer 


478  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1890 

weather,  to  the  Engadine,  where  the  invigorating 
air  might  benefit  him,  and  English  physicians  and 
nurses  were  to  be  found.  The  weather  was  beau- 
tiful during  the  long  drive  from  Meran,  and  Mr. 
Brace  insisted  on  leaving  the  valley  of  the  Etsch  for 
a  day,  to  show  his  children,  and  see  again  himself, 
the  magnificent  Stelvio  Pass,  the  scene  of  one  of  his 
great  walks  in  the  far-away  years  of  his  vigorous 
youth.  They  reached  Trafoi,  a  spot  on  the  ascent 
of  the  great  pass,  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  sunset 
view  there  was  his  last  great  pleasure.  He  walked 
out  and  gazed  on  the  awful  snow-heights,  in  silent, 
grave  enjoyment. 

Mr.  Brace's  patience  and  sweetness  under  his 
burden  of  weakness  were  unfailing,  but  the  trip 
grew  hourly  more  painful  to  all,  and  it  was  with 
grateful  hearts  that  they  saw  the  grand  scenes  of 
St.  Moritz,  and  then  Campfer,  come  into  view  on 
Saturday,  the  second  of  August.  They  felt  nearer 
home  in  looking  on  the  kind  English  faces  about 
them,  and  the  chaplain  was  almost  a  friend,  so  great 
was  his  regard  for  Mr.  Brace's  name.  He  owned  Mr. 
Brace's  late  books,  and  was  eager,  with  a  sympathy 
that  made  itself  felt  even  Avhen  it  could  not  be 
expressed,  to  do  anything  in  his  power  to  lessen 
the  gloom  of  those  last  days. 

The  windows  of  Mr.  Brace's  room  looked  out 
over  one  of  the  loveliest  of  the  Engadine  views,  the 


^T.  64]  DEATH  479 

little  pale-green  lake  of  Campfer  stretching  off  to 
the  village  of  Silvaplana,  a  deep  green  point  of  land 
jutting  into  the  lake,  while  beyond  were  the  great 
gray  peaks  and  shining  snow-fields.  He  could  look 
on  all  this  loveliness  as  he  rested  on  his  bed,  and 
for  a  moment  would  lie  and  gaze  and  speak  of  it. 
But  the  sleep  of  exhaustion  came  almost  at  once. 
The  kind  doctor  could  not  stay  the  malady  of  which 
he  died.  Bright's  disease  was  doing  its  deadly 
work,  and  although  the  struggle  to  regain  strength 
which  would  not  come  again  even  in  that  air  con- 
tinued for  a  week,  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  sank 
into  unconsciousness.  A  day  or  two  before,  he  had 
been  much  touched  by  the  death  of  Mr.  George 
Schuyler,  with  whom  his  life  had  come  into  close 
relations  during  the  years  of  his  strong  friendship 
for  Mrs.  Schuyler  and  Miss  Hamilton.  One  other 
trace  of  his  old  feeling  for  his  friends  in  his  great 
weakness,  and  the  last  expression  of  interest  in  his 
life-work,  was  shown  a  few  days  before  his  death, 
when,  after  reading  in  a  New  York  paper  an 
account  of  the  success  of  the  sanitarium  on  Long 
Island,  he  said  to  his  daughter,  "  I  wish  you  would 
send  this  to  Mr.  Potter." 

There  was  no  suffering  during  the  days  at 
Campfer,  and  after  three  days  of  unconsciousness 
Mr.  Brace  passed  quietly  away  on  the  evening  of 
Monday,  the  eleventh  of  August. 


480  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE  [1890 

On  the  fourteenth,  the  funeral  procession,  simple 
and  unpretentious  as  he  would  have  chosen  it  to  be, 
wound  along  the  road  to  the  little  cemetery  at  St. 
Moritz,  where  he  was  laid  to  rest,  and  on  the  stone 
was  carved,  "After  he  had  served  his  generation 
by  the  will  of  God,  he  fell  on  sleep." 

The  soft  green  slopes  rise  up  behind  the  little 
church  and  graveyard,  the  deep  green  lake  lies  in 
the  depth  of  the  narrow  valley  below,  and  high 
above  his  grave  tower  the  snow-capped  mountains 
he  loved  so  well. 


POSTSCRIPT 

The  news  of  Mr.  Brace's  death  was  received  at 
home  and  abroad  with  evidences  of  deep  sorrow 
amongst  those  who  knew  him  through  his  work  and 
books,  as  well  as  in  the  circle  of  his  friends.  The 
newspapers,  not  only  of  England  and  America,  but 
also  of  Germany,  contained  tributes  to  his  memory. 
One  of  the  New  York  papers  said:  "The  death  of 
no  citizen  of  this  municipality  could  bring  a  sense 
of  personal  loss  and  personal  grief  to  so  many  of 
its  inhabitants,  as  that  of  Charles  L.  Brace."  The 
"New  York  Evening  Post"  said  of  him:  — 

"He  had  every  quality  for  philanthropic  work: 
clear  insight,  perfect  sanity  of  judgment,  supreme 
diligence,  and  indomitable  patience,  from  whence  it 
resulted  that  he  became  a  master  of  his  vocation  and 
of  world-wide  reputation."  And  the  article  con- 
cluded with  these  words :  "  Those  who  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  knowing  him  will  long  remember  his 
engaging  personality,  the  chief  light  of  which  was 
the  charm  and  grace  of  pure  goodness." 

Of  the  grief  of,  the  men  and  women  who  came 
into  daily  relations  with  him  in  the  work  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society  —  the  teachers  in  the  schools, 

2x  481 


482  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

the  superintendents  who  were  constantly  cheered  by 
his  kindly  supervision  and  comprehending  sympathy 
in  the  difficult  task  of  taming  the  street-boys,  the 
employees  who  met  him  every  day  in  the  office  —  the 
following  letter  from  one  of  the  teachers  is  the  best 
testimonial :  — 

"I  expect  to  open  school  on  Monday,"  she  writes 
on  September  4th,  "and  I  shall  feel,  as  I  enter  the 
schoolroom,  that  Mr.  Brace  has  left  to  us,  as  a  sacred 
legac}^  that  we  should  now,  as  never  before,  work 
with  all  the  energy  and  the  wisdom  given  us  for  the 
cause  to  which  he  gave  his  life.  How  to  go  on  with- 
out reference  to  Mr.  Brace,  how  to  disassociate  him 
from  the  work,  I  cannot  conceive,  and  I  know  all  the 
teachers  feel  as  I  do.  None  but  those  intimately 
associated  in  the  work  can  appreciate,  as  can  we  who 
worked  with  him,  the  painstaking  care,  the  attention 
to  minute  detail,  his  knowledge  of  every  teacher's 
abilit}^  his  just  and  even  grateful  acknoAvledgment 
of  her  work,  —  if  it  were  only  her  care  of  the  children 
for  a  week  at  the  Bath  home  in  the  summer, — his 
unstinted  and  open  praise,  and  his  encouragement 
of  every  effort  made  to  advance  the  educational  and 
moral  status  of  the  unfortunate.  We  knew  just 
where  to  find  Mr.  Brace;  just  wheie  he  stood  on 
every  question;  and  his  'yes  '  and  'no'  meant  more 
than  a  volume  from  others." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  held  October  15,  1890, 
the  following  resolution  was  passed :  — 


POSTSCRIPT  483 

"  Whereas^  the  Rev.  Charles  Loring  Brace  has  ended 
a  life  devoted  exclusively  to  the  benefit  of  the  poor 
and  the  ignorant  of  his  native  land,  and  has  by  his 
individual  efforts  created  the  'Children's  Aid  Soci- 
ety,' having  been  for  the  last  thirty-eight  years  its 
honored,  patient,  and  intelligent  Secretary,  writ- 
ing for  it  in  public  journals,  pleading  for  it  wherever 
he  could  find  a  listener,  teaching  in  it,  both  by  voice 
and  example,  and  helping  it  with  all  the  powers  of 
a  most  practical  and  cultivated  mind  and  loving 
heart, 

"  Therefore  Resolved^  That  this  society,  not  only  in 
view  of  the  loss  the  world  has  sustained  by  his 
decease,  but  as  a  token  of  our  reverence  and  affection 
for  him,  gratefully  place  on  its  records  this  memorial 
of  his  character, 

'"''And  we,  the  Trustees,  in  recollection  of  his  life, 
wholly  spent  in  efforts  for  the  relief  of  human 
misery,  and  of  his  Christ-like  devotion  to  suffering 
children,  do  resolve  that  we  will  consecrate  our  lives 
by  sustaining  and  increasing  the  great  work  which 
he  inaugurated  and  has  left  to  our  care,  remembering 
our  Lord's  words  that,  '  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done 
it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  Me. ' 

^''Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  his  widow  and  chil- 
dren our  heartfelt  sympathy  in  their  deep  affliction." 

A  memorial  meeting  to  Mr.  Brace  was  held  at 
the  Newsboys'  Lodging-House  on  December  9,  1890, 
at  which  addresses  were  made  by  Bishop  Potter, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor,  and  several  of  the  trustees  of 


484  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

the  society.  A  letter  from  William  E.  Dodge, 
regretting  his  inability  to  attend,  contains  the 
following :  — 

"No  stronger,  braver,  or  more  self-sacrificing  life 
has  ever  been  lived  in  New  York.  As  an  example 
of  what  may  be  done  by  large  brains,  a  big  heart, 
and  rare  common-sense  concentrated  on  one  worthy 
object,  the  memory  of  his  work  can  never  die. 
Always  patient,  wise,  and  thoughtful,  his  manage- 
ment of  a  great  and  constantly  growing  charity  has 
been  a  marvel  of  ability  and  success." 

Among  the  more  private  expressions  of  sorrow, 
a  telegram  from  Bishop  Potter  to  his  brother  said, 
"Assure  Mrs.  Brace  of  hearty  sympathy.  New 
York  could  have  sustained  no  greater  loss." 

Dr.  Howard,  in  speaking  of  the  fulness  and  com- 
pleteness of  the  life  he  had  led,  says,  "  How  much, 
in  many  ways,  he  has  given  to  us!  He  has  lived 
the  life  of  four  thinkers  and  workers,  instead  of 
one.  He  could  have  lived  longer,  I  think, — yet 
not  so  long,  —  had  he  not  crowded  and  multiplied 
his  work  so  steadily." 

R.  Heber  Newton  writes  to  Mrs.  Brace:  "What 
a  loss  our  city  has  met  !  Who  is  there  of  us  preachers 
whose  life  can  leave  behind  it  such  a  legacy  as  he  has 
bequeathed  ?  I  think  that  his  work  in  the  Aid  Society 
was  the  one  most  far-seeing  and  courageous  work  of 
the  city's  philanthropy.     I  know  no  finer  illustration 


POSTSCRIPT  485 

in  our  history  of  what  one  man  can  do  with  the  love 
of  God  and  man  in  his  heart." 

From  James  Bryce,  then  in  this  country,  came  the 
following  to  Mrs.  Brace :  "  There  was  something  so 
pure  and  elevated  about  your  husband's  life  and 
character,  so  much  sweetness  and  unselfishness  in  all 
his  life  and  conduct,  that  we  feel  it  a  great  privilege 
to  have  enjoyed  his  friendship,  and  mourn  his  depar- 
ture as  a  loss  to  the  whole  community  which  he 
adorned.  I  do  not  know  where  the  neglected  children 
of  New  York  are  to  find  an  equally  wise  and  tender 
helper,  nor  those  seeking  to  enter  on  philanthropic 
work  so  inspiring  an  example." 

From  far-away  India  came  the  message  of  Mr. 
Mozoomdar,  who  writes :  " .  .  .  Among  the  few 
friends  whom  my  American  visit  has  entwined  in  the 
most  sacred  spot  of  my  heart,  Mr.  Charles  Loring 
Brace's  genial  face  shall  ever  shine  like  that  of  a 
guardian  angel.  I  can  very  well  imagine  what  he 
must  have  been  to  the  seventy  thousand  homeless 
orphans  whom  he  housed  and  protected,  from  what  he 
was  to  me  when  I  was  homeless  and  almost  friendless 
in  the  great  city  of  New  York.  .  .  .  He  was  the 
type  of  the  Christian  character  which  St.  Paul  set 
forth  in  the  words,  '  Not  slothful  in  business,  fer- 
vent in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord. '  Philosophy  and 
philanthropy  make  the  ideal  of  the  modern  Chris- 
tian,   and  no  one  whom   I   have  known  conformed 


486  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

to  that  ideal  more  than  my  beloved,  departed 
friend.  But  why  indulge  in  eulogies  now,  praise 
and  sorrow  are  equally  vain;  to  the  immortal, 
immortal  love  is  the  only  fit  offering.  What  better 
way  to  make  that  offering  but  that  his  friends,  his 
widow,  and  his  children  should  put  on  the  example 
he  has  left  behind  him,  —  the  example  of  Christian 
love,  world-wide  wisdom,  and  absolute  devotion  to 
God?" 

The  closing  prayer  from  "The  Unknown  God," 
written  as  it  was  during  the  years  when  Mr.  Brace 
put  less  and  less  of  himself  into  his  friendly  letters, 
seems  to  be  in  a  sense  the  last  expression  of  himself, 
and  appropriately  closes  this  autobiography,  while 
placing  before  us  in  his  own  simple  and  beautiful 
words  the  belief  at  which  he  gradually  arrived,  of 
the  presence  of  God  throughout  all  times  and  races 
of  men. 

"  O  Thou  Unknown  God !  No  powers  of  man  can 
grasp  Thee!  In  Thy  fulness  Thou  art  unknowable. 
We  pass  away ;  Thou  art  eternal.  To  Thee  belong- 
eth  not  time  or  space.  Thou  changest  not,  and  yet 
Thy  being  is  full  of  eternal  waves  of  thought  and 
feeling.  From  the  nature  which  Thou  hast  given  us, 
and  from  Thy  universe,  we  know  that  we  are  in  Thy 
image.  Thou  hast  revealed  Thyself  in  Christ  Thy 
Son.  As  He  is,  such  art  Thou.  We  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  hast  also  made  Thyself  known  in  all  ages, 
to  all  men,  of  every  race  and  tribe.     We  bless  Thee 


POSTSCRIPT  487 

that  Thy  creatures  in  ancient  days  have  seen  Thy 
face.  We  thank  Thee  that  in  all  their  ignorance  and 
animalism  they  have  known  Thy  loviiig-kindness, 
which  is  better  than  life.  We  thank  Thee  that  amid 
impurity  they  have  felt  Th}"  purity;  that  where  so 
much  was  selfish  around  them  they  have  seen  Thy 
unchanging  beneficence.  They  have  only  known 
Thee  in  part;  but  who  hath  known  Thee  wholly? 
They  have  served  Thee  blindly ;  but  who  hath  seen 
all  the  ways  of  the  Lord?  Thej'^  have  given  up 
thought  and  heart  and  life  to  what  they  conceived 
Thy  will.  If  they  have  erred,  who  of  us  is  free 
from  error?  They  have  called  Thee  by  various 
names ;  but  what  are  names  to  Thee  ?  We  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  hast  come  nearest  to  us  and  all  men 
in  Jesus  Christ  Thy  Son.  In  Him  we  know  Thee 
as  Father.  In  Him  we  see  Thy  face.  .  .  .  We 
too,  O  Thou  Theos  Agnostos,  would  join  with  feeble 
voices  the  great  acclaim  of  praise  and  honor  and  glor}^ 
which  ariseth  to  Thee  from  all  tribes  and  countries 
of  men,  and  would  humbly  offer  our  lives  in  service 
to  Thee  whom  we  shall  yet  see  face  to  face." 


APPENDIX  A. 

FIRST   CIRCULAR    OF   THE    CHILDREN'S    AID    SOCIETY. 

To  the  Public :  This  society  has  taken  its  origin  in  the 
deeply  settled  feeling  of  our  citizens,  that  something  must 
be  done  to  meet  the  increasing  crime  and  poverty  among 
the  destitute  children  of  New  York.  Its  objects  are  to 
help  this  class,  by  opening  Sunday  meetings  and  indus- 
trial schools,  and  gradually,  as  means  shall  be  furnished, 
by  forming  lodging-houses  and  reading-rooms  for  chil- 
dren, and  by  employing  paid  agents,  whose  sole  business 
shall  be  to  care  for  them. 

As  Christian  men,  we  cannot  look  upon  this  great  mul- 
titude of  unhappy,  deserted,  and  degraded  boys  and  girls 
without  feeling  our  responsibility  to  God  for  tliem.  We 
remember  that  they  have  the  same  capacities,  the  same 
need  of  kind  and  good  influences,  and  the  same  immor- 
tality, as  the  little  ones  in  our  own  homes.  AVe  bear  in 
mind  that  One  died  for  them,  even  as  for  the  children  of 
the  rich  and  the  happy.  Thus  far,  almshouses  and  prisons 
have  done  little  to  affect  the  evil.  But  a  small  part  of 
the  vagrant  population  can  be  shut  up  in  our  asylums; 
and  judges  and  magistrates  are  reluctant  to  convict  chil- 
dren, so  young  and  ignorant  that  they  hardly  seem  able 
to  distinguish  good  and  evil.  The  class  increases.  Im- 
migration is  pouring  in  its  multitudes  of  poor  foreigners, 
who  leave  these  young  outcasts  everywhere  abandoned  in 
our  midst.  Por  the  most  part,  the  boys  grow  up  utterly 
by  themselves.     No  one  cares  for  them,  and  they  care  for 

489 


490  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

no  one.  Some  live  by  begging,  by  petty  pilferings,  by 
bold  robbery.  Some  earn  an  honest  support  by  peddling 
matches,  or  apples,  or  newspapers.  Others  gather  bones 
and  rags  in  the  street  to  sell.  They  sleep  on  steps,  in 
cellars,  in  old  barns,  and  in  markets;  or  they  hire  a  bed 
in  filthy  and  low  lodging-houses.  They  cannot  read. 
They  do  not  go  to  school  or  attend  a  church.  Many  of 
them  have  never  seen  the  Bible.  Every  cunning  faculty 
is  intensely  stimulated.  They  are  shrewd  and  old  in  vice 
when  other  children  are  in  leading-strings.  Few  influ- 
ences which  are  kind  and  good  ever  reach  the  vagrant 
boy.  And  yet,  among  themselves,  they  show  generous 
and  honest  traits.     Kindness  can  always  touch  them. 

The  girls,  too  often,  grow  up  even  more  pitiable  and 
deserted.  Till  of  late,  no  one  has  ever  cared  for  them. 
They  are  the  cross-walk  sweepers,  the  little  apple-peddlers 
and  candy-sellers  of  our  city;  or  by  more  questionable 
means  they  earn  their  scanty  bread.  They  traverse  the 
low,  vile  streets  alone,  and  live  without  mother  or  friends, 
or  any  share  in  what  we  should  call  home.  They,  also, 
know  little  of  God  or  Christ,  except  by  name.  They 
grow  up  passionate,  ungoverned;  with  no  love  or  kind- 
ness ever  to  soften  the  heart.  We  all  know  their  short, 
wild  life,  and  the  sad  end.  These  boys  and  girls,  it  should 
be  remembered,  will  soon  form  the  great  lower  class  of 
our  city.  They  will  influence  elections ;  they  may  shape 
the  policy  of  the  city;  they  will,  assuredly,  if  unre- 
claimed, poison  society  all  around  them.  They  will  help 
to  form  the  great  multitude  of  robbers,  thieves,  and 
vagrants  who  are  now  such  a  burden  upon  the  law- 
respecting  community.  In  one  ward  alone  of  the  city, 
the  eleventh,  there  was  in  1852,  out  of  12,000  children 
between  the  ages  of  five  and  sixteen,  only  7000  who 
attended  school,  and  only  2500  who  went  to  Sabbath- 
school,  leaving  5000  without  the  common  privileges  of 


APPENDIX  A  491 

education,  and  about  9000  destitute  of  public  religious 
influence. 

In  view  of  these  evils,  we  have  formed  an  association 
which  shall  devote  itself  entirely  to  this  class  of  vagrant 
children.  We  do  not  propose  in  any  way  to  conflict  with 
existing  asylums  and  institutions,  but  to  render  them  a 
hearty  co-operation,  and  at  the  same  time  to  fill  a  gap, 
which,  of  necessity,  they  have  all  left.  A  large  multi- 
tude of  children  live  in  the  city  who  cannot  be  placed  in 
asylums,  and  yet  who  are  uncared  for  and  ignorant  and 
vagrant.  We  propose  to  give  to  these  work,  and  to  bring 
them  under  religious  influences.  A  central  ofiice  has 
been  taken,  and  an  agent,  Charles  L.  Brace,  has  been 
engaged  to  give  his  whole  time  to  efforts  for  relieving 
the  wants  of  this  class.  As  means  shall  come  in,  it  is 
designed  to  district  the  city,  so  that  hereafter  every  ward 
may  have  its  agent,  who  shall  be  a  friend  to  the  vagrant 
child.  "Boys'  Sunday  Meetings"  have  already  been 
formed,  which  we  hope  to  see  extended,  until  every 
quarter  has  its  place  of  preaching  to  boys.  With  these, 
we  intend  to  connect  "Industrial  Schools,"  where  the 
great  temptations  to  this  class,  arising  from  ivant  of  icork, 
may  be  removed,  and  where  they  can  learn  an  honest 
trade.  Arrangements  have  been  made  with  manufact- 
urers, by  which,  if  we  have  the  requisite  funds  to  begin, 
five  hundred  boys  in  different  localities  can  be  supplied 
with  paying  work.  We  hope,  too,  especially  to  be  the 
means  of  draining  the  city  of  these  children,  b}'  com- 
municating with  farmers,  manufacturers,  or  families  in 
the  country,  who  may  have  need  of  such  for  employment. 
When  homeless  boys  are  found  by  our  agents,  we  mean 
to  get  them  homes  in  the  families  of  respectable  persons 
in  the  city,  and  to  put  them  in  the  way  of  an  honest 
living.  We  design,  in  a  word,  to  bring  humane  and 
kindly  influences  to  bear   on   this    forsaken   class  —  to 


492  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

preach  in  various   modes  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  the 
vagrant  children  of  New  York. 

Numbers  of  our  citizens  have  long  felt  the  evils  we 
would  remedy,  but  few  have  the  leisure  or  the  means  to 
devote  themselves  personally  to  this  work,  with  the 
thoroughness  which  it  requires.  This  society,  as  we 
propose,  shall  be  a  medium  through  which  all  can,  in 
their  measure,  practically  help  the  poor  children  of  the 
city.  We  call  upon  all  who  recognize  that  these  are  the 
little  ones  of  Chrisir;  all  who  believe  that  crime  is  best 
averted  by  sowing  good  influences  in  childhood;  all  who 
are  the  friends  of  the  helpless,  to  aid  us  in  our  enter- 
prise. We  confidently  hope  this  wide  and  practical 
movement  will  have  its  share  of  Christian  liberality. 
And  we  earnestly  ask  the  contributions  of  those  able  to 
give,  to  help  us  in  carrying  forward  the  work. 

TRUSTEES. 

B.  J.  HowLAND,  Charles  W.  Elliott,  Moses  G.  Leonard, 

John  L.  Mason,  Augustine  Eaton,  Wm.  C.  Russell, 

Wm.  C.  Gilman,  J.  S.  Phelps,  M.D.,  J.  Earl  Williams, 

Wm.  L.  King,  James  A.  Burtus,  A.  D.  F.  Randolph. 

Secretary,  Charles  L.  Brace. 
Mabch,  1853. 


APPENDIX  B 

In  September,  1854,  the  first  party  for  Michigan  started 
from  the  office  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society.  The  Com- 
pany Book  states :  "  On  September  20th,  1854,  a  company 
of  forty-six  boys  left  the  office  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  in  charge  of  Eev.  E.  P.  Smith,  visitor,  bound  for 
the  AVest.  This,  being  the  first  company  of  this  kind 
from  this  city,  was  an  experiment  the  result  of  which 
was  successful  and  gratifying  to  all  interested  in  this 


APPENDIX  B  493 

work."  It  has  been  thought  advisable  to  insert  almost 
the  whole  of  the  long  and  full  account  of  this  jour- 
ney. "On  Wednesday  evening,  with  emigrant^  tickets 
to  Detroit,  we  started  on  the  Isaac  Newton  for  Albany. 
Nine  of  our  company,  who  missed  the  boat,  were  sent  up 
by  the  morning  cars,  and  joined  us  in  Albany,  making 
forty-six  boys  and  girls  from  New  York,  bound  west- 
ward, and,  to  them,  homeward.  They  were  between  the 
ages  of  seven  and  fifteen  —  most  of  them  from  ten  to 
twelve.  The  majority  of  them  orphans,  dressed  in  uni- 
form—  as  bright,  sharp,  bold,  racy  a  crowd  of  little 
fellows  as  can  be  grown  nowhere  out  of  the  streets  of 
New  York,  The  other  ten  were  from  New  York  at  large 
—  no  number  or  street  in  particular.  Two  of  these  had 
slept  in  nearly  all  the  station-houses  in  the  city.  One, 
a  keen-eyed  American  boy,  was  born  in  Chicago  —  an 
orphan  now  and  abandoned  in  New  York  by  an  intemper- 
ate brother.  Another,  a  little  German  Jew,  who  had 
been  entirely  friendless  for  four  years,  and  had  finally 
found  his  way  into  the  Newsboys'  Lodging-house.  Dick 
and  Jack  were  brothers  of  Sarah  0 — ,  whom  we  sent  to 
Connecticut.  Their  father  is  intemperate;  mother  died 
at  Bellevue  Hospital  three  weeks  since;  and  an  older 
brother  has  just  been  sentenced  to  Sing  Sing.  Their 
father,  a  very  sensible  man  when  sober,  begged  me  to  take 
the  boys  along,  'for  I  am  sure,  sir,  if  left  in  New  York 
they  will  come  to  the  same  bad  end  as  their  brother.' 
We  took  them  to  a  shoe-shop.  Little  Jack  made  awkward 
work  in  trying  on  a  pair.  'He  don't  know  them,  sir; 
there's  not  been  a  cover  to  his  feet  for  three  winters. ' 
Another  of  the  ten,  whom  the  boys  call  'Liverpool,' 
defies  description.  Mr.  Gerry  found  liim  in  the  fourth 
ward,  a  few  hours  before  we  left.     Really  only  twelve 

1  Since  this  first  experience  we  have  always  sent  our  children  by 
regular  trains,  in  decent  style. 


494  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

years  old,  but  in  dress  a  seedy  loafer  of  forty.  His 
boots,  and  coat,  and  pants  would  have  held  two  such  boys 
easily  —  filthy  and  ragged  to  the  last  thread.  Under 
Mr.  Tracy's  hands,  at  the  lodging-house,  'Liverpool '  was 
soon  remodelled  into  a  boy  again;  and  when  he  came  on 
board  the  boat  with  his  new  suit  I  did  not  know  him. 
His  story  interested  us  all,  and  was  told  with  a  quiet, 
sad  reserve,  that  made  us  believe  him  truthful.  A  friend- 
less orphan  in  the  streets  of  Liverpool,  he  heard  of 
America,  and  determined  to  come,  and  after  long  search 
found  a  captain  who  shipped  him  as  cabin-boy.  Landed 
in  New  York,  'Liverpool'  found  his  street  condition 
somewhat  bettered.  Here  he  got  occasional  odd  jobs 
about  the  docks,  found  a  pretty  tight  box  to  sleep  in,  and 
now  and  then  the  sailors  gave  him  a  cast-off  garment, 
which  he  wrapped  and  tied  about  him,  till  he  looked  like 
a  walking  rag-bundle  when  Mr.  G.  found  him. 

"As  we  steamed  off  from  the  wharf,  the  boys  gave 
three  cheers  for  New  York,  and  three  more  for  'Michi- 
gan. '  All  seemed  as  careless  at  leaving  home  forever, 
as  if  they  were  on  a  target  excursion  to  Hoboken.  We 
had  a  steerage  passage,  and  after  the  cracker-box  and 
gingerbread  had  passed  around,  the  boys  sat  down  in  the 
gang-way  and  began  to  sing.  Their  full  chorus  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  passengers,  who  gathered  about,  and 
soon  the  captain  sent  for  us  to  come  to  the  upper  saloon. 
There  the  boys  sang  and  talked,  each  one  telling  his  own 
story  separately,  as  he  was  taken  aside,  till  ten  o'clock, 
when  Captain  S.  gave  them  all  berths  in  the  cabin;  mean- 
while, a  lady  from  Kochester  had  selected  a  little  boy 
for  her  sister,  and  Mr.  B.,  a  merchant  from  Dlinois,  had 
made  arrangements  to  take  'Liverpool'  for  his  store.  I 
afterwards  met  Mr.  B.  in  Buffalo,  and  he  said  he  would 
not  part  with  the  boy  for  any  consideration;  and  I 
thought  then,  that  to  take  such  a  boy  from  such  a  condi- 


APPENDIX  B  495 

tion,  and  put  him  into  such  hands,  was  worth  the  whole 
trip. 

"At  Albany  we  found  the  emigrant  train  did  not  go 
out  till  noon;  and  it  became  a  question  what  to  do  with 
the  children  for  the  intervening  six  hours.  There  was 
danger  that  Albany  street  boys  might  entice  them  off,  or 
that  some  might  be  tired  of  the  journey  and  hide  away, 
in  order  to  return.  When  they  were  gathered  on  the 
wharf,  we  told  them  that  ive  were  going  to  Michigan,  and 
if  any  of  them  would  like  to  go  along,  they  must  be  on 
hand  for  the  cars.  This  was  enough.  They  hardly  vent- 
ured out  of  sight.  Tte  Albany  boys  tried  hard  to  coax 
some  of  them  away;  but  ours  turned  the  tables  upon 
them,  told  them  of  Michigan,  and  when  we  were  about 
ready  to  start,  several  of  them  came  up  bringing  a  stran- 
ger with  them.  There  was  no  mistaking  the  long,  thick, 
matted  hair,  unwashed  face,  the  badger  coat,  and  double 
pants  flowing  in  the  wind  —  a  regular  'snoozer.'  'Here's 
a  boy  what  wants  to  go  to  Michig-a?*,  sir;  can't  you  take 
him  with  us?  '  'But  do  you  know  him?  Can  you  recom- 
mend him  as  a  suitable  boy  to  belong  to  our  company? ' 
No;  they  didn't  know  his  name  even.  'Only  he's  as 
hard  up  as  any  of  us.  He's  no  father  or  mother,  and 
nobody  to  live  with,  and  he  sleeps  out  o'  nights.'  The 
boy  pleads  for  himself.  He  would  like  to  go  and  be  a 
farmer  —  and  to  live  in  the  country  —  will  go  anywhere 
I  send  him  —  and  do  well  if  he  can  have  the  chance.  Our 
number  is  full  —  purse  scant  —  it  may  be  difficult  to  find 
him  a  home.  But  there  is  no  resisting  the  appeal  of  the 
boys,  and  the  importunate  face  of  the  young  vagrant. 
Perhaps  he  will  do  well;  at  any  rate  we  must  try  him. 
If  left  to  float  here  a  few  months  longer,  his  end  is  cer- 
tain. 'Do  you  think  I  can  go,  sir? '  'Yes,  John,  if  you 
v/ill  have  your  face  washed  and  liair  combed  within  half 
an  hour.'     Under  a  brisk  scrubbing,  his  face  lighted  up 


496  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

several  shades,  but  the  twisted,  tangled  hair,  matted  for 
years,  will  not  yield  to  any  amount  of  washing  and  pull- 
ing—  barber's  shears  are  the  only  remedy.  So  a  new 
volunteer  is  added  to  our  regiment.  Here  is  his  enrol- 
ment: 'John ,  American;  Protestant;  thirteen  years ; 

orphan;  parents  died  in  E ,  Maine;  a  'snoozer'  for 

four  years ;  most  of  the  time  in  New  York,  with  an  occa- 
sional visit  to  Albany  and  Troy  '  when  times  go  hard  ' ; 
intelligent;  black,  sharp  eye;  hopeful.'  As  we  marched 
two  deep,  round  the  State  House  to  the  depot,  John  re- 
ceived many  a  recognition  from  the  'outsiders,'  among 
%vhom  he  seemed  to  be  a  general  favorite,  and  they  called 
out  after  him,  'Good-bye,  Smack,'  with  a  half  sad,  half 
sly  nod,  as  if  in  doubt  whether  he  was  playing  some 
new  game,  or  were  really  going  to  leave  them  and  try 
an  honest  life. 

*'  At  the  depot  we  worked  our  way  through  the  Babel  of 
at  least  one  thousand  Germans,  Irish,  Italians,  and  Nor- 
wegians, with  whom  nothing  goes  right;  every  one  insists 
that  he  is  in  the  wrong  car,  that  his  baggage  has  received 
the  wrong  mark,  that  Chicago  is  in  this  direction,  and 
the  cars  are  on  the  wrong  track ;  in  short,  they  are  agreed 
upon  nothing  except  in  the  opinion  that  this  is  a  'bad 
counthry,  and  it's  good  luck  to  the  soul  who  sees  the  end 
on't.'  The  conductor,  a  red-faced,  middle-aged  man, 
promises  to  give  us  a  separate  car;  but  while  he  whispers 
and  negotiates  with  two  Dutch  girls,  who  are  travelling 
without  a  protector,  the  motley  mass  rushes  into  the  cars, 
and  we  are  finally  pushed  into  one  already  full, —  some 
standing,  a  part  sitting  in  laps,  and  some  on  the  floor  under 
the  benches;  crowded  to  suffocation,  in  a  freight  car  with- 
out windoAvs,  rough  benches  for  seats,  and  no  back ;  no  ven- 
tilation except  through  the  sliding  doors,  where  the  little 
chaps  are  in  constant  danger  of  falling  through.  There 
were  scenes  that  afternoon  and  night  which  it  would  not 


APPENDIX  B  497 

do  to  reveal.  Irishmen  passed  around  bad  whiskey,  and 
sang  bawdy  songs;  Dutch  men  and  women  smoked  and 
sang,  and  grunted  and  cursed ;  babies  squalled  and  nursed. 
Night  came  on,  and  we  were  told  that  'passengers  furnish 
their  own  lights.'  For  this  we  were  unprepared,  and  so 
we  tried  to  endure  darkness,  which  never  before  seemed 
half  so  thick  as  in  that  stifled  car,  though  it  was  relieved 
here  and  there  for  a  few  minutes  by  a  lighted  pipe.  .  .  . 
In  the  morning  we  were  in  the  .vicinity  of  Rochester; 
and  you  can  hardly  imagine  the  delight  of  the  children, 
as  they  looked,  many  of  them  for  the  first  time,  upon 
country  scenery.  Each  one  must  see  everything  we 
passed,  find  its  name,  and  make  his  own  comments. 
'What's  that,  mister?'  'Acorn-field.'  'Oh  yes,  them's 
what  makes  buckwheaters.'  'Look  at  them  cows  '  (oxen 
ploughing),  'my  mother  used  to  milk  cows.'  As  we  were 
whirling  through  orchards  loaded  with  large,  red  apples, 
their  enthusiasm  rose  to  the  highest  pitch.  It  was  difii- 
cult  to  keep  them  within  doors.  Arms  stretched  out, 
hats  swinging,  eyes  swimming,  mouths  watering,  and  all 
screaming,  'Oh!  oh!  just  look  at  'em!  Mister,  be  they 
any  sich  in  Michigan?  Then  I'm  in  for  that  place;  three 
cheers  for  'Michigaii ! '  We  had  been  riding  in  compara- 
tive quiet  for  nearly  an  hour,  when  all  at  once  the 
greatest  excitement  broke  out.  We  were  passing  a  corn- 
field, spread  over  with  ripe,  yellow  pumpkins.  'Oh! 
yonder!  look!  Just  look  at  'em! '  and  in  an  instant  the 
same  exclamation  was  echoed  from  forty-seven  mouths. 
*Jist  look  at  'em!  What  a  heap  of  mushmillons !  * 
'Mister,  do  they  make  mushmillons  in  Michigan  f  ^  'Ah, 
fellers,  ainH  that  the  country  tho' ;  won't  we  have  nice 
things  to  eat?'  'Yes,  and  won't  we  sell  some,  too?' 
'Hip!  hip!  boys;  three  cheers  for  Michigra^i .' '  .  .  .  We 
were  in  Buffalo  nine  hours,  and  the  boys  had  the  liberty 
of  the  town,  but  were  all  on  board  the  boat  in  season. 
2k 


498  CHARLES  LORIXG  BRACE 

We  went  down  to  our  place,  the  steerage  cabin,  and  no 
one  but  an  emigrant  on  a  lake  boat  can  understand  the 
night  we  spent.  ...  It  was  the  last  night  in  the  freight 
car  repeated,  with  the  addition  of  a  touch  of  seasickness, 
and  of  the  stamping,  neighing,  and  bleating  of  a  hundred 
horses  and  sheep  over  our  heads,  and  the  effluvia  of  their 
filth  pouring  through  the  open  gangway.  But  we  sur- 
vived the  night;  how  had  better  not  be  detailed.  In  the 
morning  we  got  outside  upon  the  boxes,  and  enjoyed  the 
beautiful  day.  The  boys  were  in  good  spirits,  sang  songs, 
told  Xew  York  yarns,  and  made  friends  generally  among 
the  passengers.  Occasionally  some  one  more  knowing 
than  wise  would  attempt  to  poke  fun  at  them,  whereupon 
the  boys  would  'pitch  in,'  and  open  such  a  sluice  of 
Bowery  slang  as  made  Mr.  Would-be-funny  beat  a  retreat 
in  double  quick  time.  Xo  one  attempted  that  game 
twice.  During  the  day  the  clerk  discovered  that  three 
baskets  of  peaches  were  missing,  all  except  the  baskets. 
None  of  the  boys  had  been  detected  with  the  fruit,  but  I 
afterwards  found  they  had  eaten  it.  Landed  in  Detroit 
at  ten  o'clock  Saturday  night,  and  took  a  first-class 
passenger  car  on  Mich.  C.  R.  R.,  and  reached  Dowagiac, 
a 'smart  little  town  '  in  Southwest  Michigan,  three  o'clock 
Sunday  morning.  The  depot-master,  who  seldom  receives 
more  than  three  passengers  from  a  train,  was  utterly 
confounded  as  the  crowd  of  little  ones  poured  out  upon 
the  platform,  and  at  first  refused  to  let  us  stay  till  morn- 
ing ;  but  after  a  deal  of  explanation  he  consented,  with 
apparent  misgiving,  and  the  boys  spread  themselves  on 
the  floor  to  sleep.  At  daybreak  they  began  to  inquire, 
'Where  be  we?'  and,  finding  that  they  were  really  in 
Michigan,  scattered  in  all  directions,  each  one  for  him- 
self, and  in  five  minutes  there  was  not  a  boy  in  sight  of 
the  depot.  When  I  had  negotiated  for  our  stay  at  the 
American  House  ( !)  and  had  breakfast  nearly  ready,  they 


APPENDIX  B  499 

began  to  straggle  back  from  every  quarter;  each  boy 
loaded  down  —  caps,  shoes,  coat-sleeves,  and  sliirts  full 
of  every  green  thing  they  could  lay  hands  upon  —  apples, 
ears  of  corn,  peaches,  pieces  of  pumpkins,  etc.  'Look  at 
the  Michig^a?!  filberts ! '  cried  a  little  fellow,  running  up, 
holding  with  both  hands  npon  his  shirt  bosom,  Avhich 
was  bursting  out  with  acorns.  Little  i\Iag  (and  she  is 
one  of  the  prettiest,  sweetest  little  things  you  ever  set 
eyes  upon)  brought  in  a  'nosegay,'  which  she  insisted 
upon  sticking  in  my  coat, —  a  mullen-stock  and  corn- 
leaf,  twisted  with  grass !  Several  of  the  boys  had  had  a 
swim  in  the  creek,  though  it  was  a  pretty  cold  morning. 
At  the  breakfast-table  the  question  was  discussed  how 
we  should  spend  the  Sabbath.  The  boys  evidently 
wanted  to  continue  their  explorations;  but  when  asked 
if  it  would  not  be  best  to  go  to  church,  there  were  no 
hands  down,  and  some  proposed  to  go  to  Sunday-school, 
and  'boys'  meeting,  too.'  The  children  had  clean  and 
happy  faces,  but  no  change  of  clothes,  and  those  they 
wore  were  badly  soiled  and  torn  by  the  emigrant  passage. 
You  can  imagine  the  appearance  of  our  'ragged  regiment, ' 
as  we  filed  into  the  Presbyterian  church  (which,  by  the 
way,  was  a  school -house),  and  appropriated  our  full  share 
of  the  seats.  The  'natives '  could  not  be  satisfied  with 
staring,  as  they  came  to  the  door  and  filled  up  the  vacant 
part  of  the  house.  The  pastor  was  late,  and  we  occu- 
pied the  time  in  singing.  Those  sweet  Sabbath-school 
songs  never  sounded  so  sweetly  before.  Their  favorite 
hymn  was,  'Come,  ye  sinners,  poor  and  needy  ';  and  they 
rolled  it  out  with  a  relish.  It  was  a  touching  sight,  and 
pocket-handkerchiefs  were  used  quite  freely  among  the 
audience.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon  the  people  were 
informed  of  the  object  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society.  It 
met  with  the  cordial  approbation  of  all  present,  and 
several  promised  to  take  children.  .  .  .     Monday  mom- 


500  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

ing  the  boys  held  themselves  in  readiness  to  receive  appli- 
cations from  the  farmers.  They  would  watch  in  all 
directions,  scanning  closely  every  wagon  that  came  in 
sight,  and  deciding  from  the  appearance  of  the  driver 
and  the  horses,  more  often  from  the  latter,  whether  they 
'would  go  in  for  that  farmer.'  There  seems  to  be  a  gen- 
eral dearth  of  boys,  and  still  greater  of  girls,  in  all  this 
section,  and  before  night  I  had  applications  for  fifteen  of 
my  children,  the  applicants  bringing  recommendations 
from  their  pastor  and  the  justice  of  peace.  There  was  a 
rivalry  among  the  boys  to  see  which  first  could  get  a 
home  in  the  country,  and  before  Saturday  they  were  all 
gone.  Rev.  Mr.  0.  took  several  home  with  him;  and 
nine  of  the  smallest  I  accompanied  to  Chicago,  and  sent 
to  Mr.  Townsend,  Iowa  City.  Nearly  all  the  others 
found  homes  in  Cass  County,  and  I  had  a  dozen  applica- 
tions for  more.  A  few  of  the  boys  are  bound  to  trades, 
but  the  most  insisted  upon  being  farmers,  and  learning 
to  drive  horses.  They  are  to  receive  a  good  common 
school  education,  and  one  hundred  dollars  when  twenty- 
one.  I  have  great  hopes  for  the  majority  of  them. 
*  Mag '  is  adopted  by  a  wealthy  Christian  farmer.  '  Smack, 
the  privateer, '  from  Albany,  has  a  good  home  in  a  Quaker 
settlement.  The  two  brothers,  Dick  and  Jack,  were 
taken  by  an  excellent  man  and  his  son,  living  on  adja- 
cent farms.     The  German  boy  from  the  'Lodging-house  ' 

lives  with  a  physician  in  D .     Several  of  the  boys 

came  in  to  see  me,  and  tell  their  experience  in  learning 
to  farm.  One  of  them  was  sure  he  knew  how  to  milk, 
and  being  furnished  with  a  pail,  was  told  to  take  his 
choice  of  the  cows  in  the  yard.  He  sprang  for  a  two- 
year-old  steer,  caught  him  by  the  horns,  and  called  for  a 
'line  to  make  him  fast.'  None  seemed  discontented  but 
one,  who  ran  away  from  a  tinner,  because  he  wanted  to 
be  a  farmer.     On  the  whole,  the  first  experiment  of 


APPENDIX  C  501 

sending  children  West  is  a  very  happy  one,  and  I  am 
sure  there  are  places  enough  with  good  families  in 
Michigan,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin,  to  give  every 
poor  boy  and  girl  in  New  York  a  permanent  home.  The 
only  difficulty  is  to  bring  the  children  to  the  homes." 


APPENDIX  C. 

The  present  work  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  (1894) 
comprises  the  maintenance  of  twenty-one  industrial 
schools,  thirteen  night  schools,  six  lodging-houses,  a 
farm-school  for  a  small  number  of  boys  at  Kensico, 
Westchester  County,  N.Y. ;  four  summer  charities  —  the 
Children's  Summer  Home  at  Bath  Beach,  the  Cottage  for 
Crippled  Girls,  the  Health  Home  on  Coney  Island,  and 
the  Sick  Children's  Mission;  a  dress-making,  sewing- 
machine,  type-writing  school,  and  laundry;  a  boys' 
printing-shop;  and  three  free  reading-rooms.  All  this  in 
addition  to  the  emigration  work,  to  which  we  shall  recur. 
The  Report  of  the  society  for  1893  showed  a  registry  of 
12,516  children  in  the  schools  during  the  year,  and  an 
average  daily  attendance  of  4976.  These  children,  be- 
sides being  taught,  were  partly  fed  and  partly  clothed. 
The  total  annual  expense  of  these  schools  (both  day  and 
night)  was  $122,371.99,  making  an  average  cost  of  $24.59 
for  each  child.  In  the  lodging-houses  6277  boys  and 
girls  found  shelter  and  food  in  the  course  of  the  year. 
Deducting  the  lodging-house  receipts,  the  net  running 
expense  was  $27,463.51,  and  dividing  this  by  464,  the 
average  nightly  number  of  lodgers,  we  have  $59.19  as 
the  average  cost  of  each  child  for  the  year.  The  Summer 
Home  received  5007  children  during  the  summer,  at  an 
average  cost  of  $1.46  for  each  child.  At  the  Health 
Home,  6300  mothers  and  babies  were  entertained  at  a 


602  CHARLES  LORING  BRACE 

cost  of  $1.04  for  each  person.  The  total  number  of 
persons  under  charge  of  the  society  for  the  year  was 
34,277. 

The  number  for  whom  homes  and  employment  were 
found  last  year  was  1940 ;  of  whom  1033  were  boys,  626 
were  girls,  107  men,  and  174  women.  The  average  cost 
to  the  public  for  each  person  was  $12.75.  To  place  a 
child  in  a  good  home  in  the  far  West  and  afterward  visit 
and  correspond  with  him  costs  on  an  average  $25.  The 
maintenance  of  the  same  child  in  an  asylum  or  poor-house 
costs  nearly  $140  a  year.  Since  the  formation  of  the 
society  in  1853  the  number  of  persons  assisted  to  new 
homes  and  occupations  has  been  99,678,  of  whom  85,977 
were  children, —  52,460  boys,  and  33,517  girls.  Included 
in  the  total  number  are  1451  sent  to  institutions.  Homes 
have  been  found  for  the  younger  of  these  children, 
employment  in  New  York  and  the  neighboring  States 
for  the  older,  and  poor  families  have  been  assisted  to  the 
West,  where  employment  awaited  them.  Of  the  smaller 
children  not  three  per  cent  have  turned  out  badly,  and  of 
all  children  under  fourteen  not  more  than  five  per  cent. 
A  record  has  been  kept  of  all  the  children  placed  in 
homes,  and  the  correspondence  is  one  of  the  features  of 
the  system,  and  all  are  visited  as  long  as  is  deemed 
necessary  by  the  experienced  agents. 

The  statistics  of  juvenile  crime,  taken  from  the  police 
reports  and  covering  the  period  of  the  operation  of  the 
society,  show  a  steady  diminution  of  offences  of  this 
class.  To  quote  from  the  Report  of  1893,  where  a  sum- 
mary of  these  statistics  has  been  made,  "...  the  com- 
mitments of  girls  and  women  for  vagrancy  fell  off  from 
5880  in  1860  to  1769  in  1892,  or  from  one  in  every  1381- 
persons  in  1860  (when  the  population  was  864,224)  to 
one  in  every  1033  in  1892  (when  the  population  was 
1,827,396).     This  certainly  looks  like  some  effect  from 


APPENDIX  C  503 

reformatory  efforts.  Again,  the  commitments  of  petty 
girl  thieves  fell  off  from  one  in  every  743  in  1865  (when 
the  population  was  726,380)  to  one  in  8158  in  1892. 
Male  vagrants  also  have  diminished  in  twenty-live  years, 
largely  in  proportion  to  the  population.  Male  petty 
thieves  have  fallen  off  some  700  during  twenty-five  years, 
and  greatly  in  the  average  to  the  whole  number,  as  have 
also  the  comm^itments  of  boys  under  fourteen  years."  In 
one  classification  of  the  police  reports  known  as  statistics 
of  juvenile  delinquency,  the  number  of  arraignments  has 
fallen  from  1139  in  1875  to  570  in  1892,  and  the  number 
of  commitments  from  917  to  459, — this,  despite  the 
increase  in  population  and  the  great  numbers  of  poor 
immigrants  left  stranded  in  New  York. 

Professor  Herbert  B.  Adams,  of  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity, writing  in  1892,  estimates  the  number  of  chil- 
dren aided  by  Mr.  Brace  at  300,000.  It  is  certain  that 
the  real  number  is  far  in  excess  of  this,  statistics  showing 
that  in  the  single  department  of  the  boys'  lodging-houses, 
over  200,000  boys  have  found  shelter  during  the  past 
thirty-eight  years.  During  the  last  year  the  super- 
intendent of  these  lodging-houses  started  in  business  or 
trade  271  boys,  while  employment  in  other  ways  was 
found  for  648  more.  The  total  number  aided  in  ways 
devised  by  Mr.  Brace  cannot  be  far  from  half  a  million. 


NortooolJ  i3teBS : 

J.  S.  Gushing  &  Co.  — Berwick  &  Smith. 

Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

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